STEM Challenge 2015, sponsored by Renishaw plc

May 18, 2015

In this year’s HMSG STEM Challenge twelve entries were sent away to Renishaw plc to be judged.  The range of projects was inspiring and imaginative, including: a comfortable grip for a pen, designed for people who experience difficulty with writing; washing up gloves which have scouring pads incorporated into the finger tips; a sweet pan; research and experimentation on wind power to generate electricity; flight; healthy snacks for young children……

STEM-challenge-winnersWThe winners of the top three prizes completed excellent work.  Isabel’s pinhole photography was full of interesting research and photos, which was summarised in the form of an A1 poster; Georgiana’s high altitude balloon portfolio was a ‘scrap book supreme’; and Elisabeth’s clever combined car de-humidifier cum air freshener, ‘Zorbit’, which gained first place, could make her fortune!  It solves the common problem experienced by car drivers in winter by absorbing the moisture from the air and preventing the windscreen from becoming misted and/or frozen on the inside.  The added advantages are that the gadget fits neatly inside the car’s cup holder and also emits a pleasant odour, which Elisabeth has developed in a range of three different scents.

Prizes:

  • 1st:          Elisabeth (Y9) won a Samsung Galaxy S6 mobile phone;
  • 2nd:         Georgiana (Y13) won an iPad mini;
  • 3rd:         Isabel (Y10) won £150 of Amazon vouchers;
  • Joint 4th: Hattie (Y7) and Charlotte (Y6) each received £75 of Amazon vouchers.

Renishaw plc donates £1000 to a number of schools in Gloucestershire and South Wales to encourage boys and girls to consider studying engineering and science at university.  Mrs Watts and Mrs Collins, the Renishaw judges, were impressed with the high quality of work completed by girls at HMSG once again this year.  Elisabeth and Georgiana have taken part in all three STEM Challenges, since its inception in Michaelmas Term 2012, and are deserved winners of this year’s competition.

Mrs A Kavanagh
Head of Physics