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STEM: Engineering a better future

Creative Ripon Grammar School students impressed industry experts with their ideas for the next stage of the school’s development. See all the students hard at work and some of their amazing designs in our photo gallery, below

BUDDING young engineers impressed industry experts when they rose to the challenge of designing a new theatre and assembly hall for Ripon Grammar School, using the latest in sustainable technology.

Tasked with producing the most innovative, cost-effective and environmentally friendly designs, Year 8 pupils divided into teams to spend two days researching, designing and costing their projects. Once complete, each team unveiled their 3D model and delivered a five-minute presentation and pitch to a panel of judges.

The challenge aims to give pupils a taste of running their own business while preparing them for a range of exciting careers, with pupils taking on specific roles including project manager, architect, civil engineer, finance manager and sustainability specialist.

One of the judges, Katie McQuade, a civil engineer at WSP Engineering, said “It amazed me how talented and clever the children were at such a young age, and it was great to be able to help input ideas and guide them in the direction of certain sustainable materials and what they could consider to reduce the carbon emissions.

“If this is the talent we have at such a young age, it is looking bright for the future of engineering and sustainability.”

The wide range of inspirational designs incorporated everything from solar power to water recycling systems, carbon reduction schemes and living walls covered in vegetation.

Science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) co-ordinator Claire Gallagher, who led the project, was impressed by the enthusiasm and dedication of the students over the two days.

Miss Gallagher said students demonstrated fabulous teamwork, pulling together to produce some innovative and well-constructed models: “They had a lot to achieve in a short time, but the project managers did a great job in motivating their teams and delegating tasks to ensure they met their deadlines.”

*Read some of our student reports on their experience, below

Pictured top, members of the winning team with judges: past pupils Bethan Evan of the Yorkshire Building Society, George Vivian, Ripon Bid, Ally Day, Envirovent, and past pupil Oliver Tann and Katie McQuade from WSP engineering. Mr Walker and Miss Gallagher were also part of the judging team.

The winning team above, their presentation and design, below

Report by Noah Coghlan (winner of the Building for the Future writing challenge)

Our Year 8 Building for the Future task consisted of all the students in the year (as well as some who are joining us in Year 9) being split up into ten groups, each with around 12 people who all had a role.

My group included Vlad: project manager, Imogen: architect, Charlie: civil engineer, Joseph: environmentalist and Robert: marketing director. We all began with training in our respective fields.

As a renewable energy consultant, I experimented with renewable energy sources and figured out the best ways to generate energy fastest and in large quantities with a cheap cost, concluding that solar cells would work best.

Our manager Vlad distributed research and physical tasks we each needed to complete and so we all began to work.

Then began the real challenges - we were given our first deadline to meet with a client at 2:45pm, and so the race was on.

We had a series of tasks to complete in that time frame, such as coming up withall ofthe environmental issues with the place we were building, the location and how our energy and electricity would work and be produced.

The manager had to bring one other person with him to the client and he chose me, so we pitched our ideas and answered all the questions, making sure to show the client our schematics. Then we had to prepare a 3D building, fully furnished, and a PowerPointpresentation, complete with scripts.

After watching three other groups, we then had to perform and present ourselves. We didn’t manage to finish in time but thanks to quick thinking from group members we may have saved one another.

Report by Keziah Jayan (runner up)

Our group name was Theatres For You and included Ashika, Imogen, Holly, Caitlyn, Vlad, Noah, Sverir, Jasmine, Joseph, Charlie,Robert and myself. I was part of the design team, tasked with creating the 3D model and my job was to produce materials that would work best with the building considering the expense, the numberof materials used the safest materials to use.

Building for the Future inspired me to create new ideas with the team. I got tips on easier ways to build models. Not only that but I am able to understand the metric systems and easier ways on measuring objects without a tape measure. I also now have a good understanding of types of materials and their uses and why they are so important.

Our team’s ideas were very creative, and we came up with solutions to why or why not we would use specific materials. We also had votes for the shape of the building to see whether it would fit to perfection.

We sent our architects and designers to the IT room to comeup with ideas, so when they came back,we could discuss which ideas would fit best with the school. We also limited the materials we bought which were too expensive, meaning the idea would not work within budget.

We put our minds together to produce a wonderful PowerPoint, carefully constructed by our IT consultant (Caitlyn).

Our designing team managed to get the outside of the building done and on the second day we got it finished by carefully making the interior with the group’s support.

To conclude, we worked very hard as a team and cooperated very well and managed to get our model finished efficiently within the time allowed. We focused very hard, and all did what we were told to do, and all got along. This was a very good experience for me, and I will learn ways to improve and try even harder next time to build something even better. These skills will help me in my future job as well.

Report by Holly Nash (runner up)

Our team was made up of Imogen, Robert, Vlad, Ashika, Noah, Kezia, Sievvir, Joe, Charlie, Kaytlin, Jasmine and myself.

We started off by knowing what we all needed to do and what research we needed to carry out. Having our own lesson about our assigned jobs really helped me get a good understanding of how the building was going to look.

We brought all our ideas together and did some group work to allow us all to know what needed to be done and where we needed to start. At the early stages of the project, we started to get our individual ideas complete.

Day two came with a lot of challenges, there was a lot to get done. We all came together and helped with a bit of everything, everyone participated in creating the building (whether that was cutting, gluing, innovating, or completing the PowerPoint presentation).

After break the pressure was high. We felt we had done loads but without much outcome, however, we all kept calm and collected and cracked on.

With 20 minutes to spare everything came together, all our work was finished, and it looked great.

Finally, we had finished the project and now it was onto the presenting. We all took part although our time frame for presenting wasn’t very long which meant it was quite challenging.

Trying to describe what we made was harder than I thought it would be, although I think it went well.

Overall, our group worked well, the project was difficult, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was a good way to educate us all.