Six talented students from the region have secured top honours at a prestigious national science and engineering competition. Additionally, three other local teenagers were recognised as runners-up at the major event.
Floating Farm Design Wins Award
Phoebee-Frances Gorman, a Year 7 student at The Belvedere Academy, won the Stantec Developing Future Communities Award for her innovative floating farm design. Her project outlined plans to grow food in water using unused dock space in Liverpool.
Team Award for Self-Cleaning Surfaces Research
A five-person team from Liverpool Life Sciences UTC and The Studio Liverpool received the ECITB Teamwork Award. Adina Ergermeier, Alice Kenwright, Emilia Dixon, Farah Hussein, and Olivia Brookfield investigated how certain plants naturally repel water, inspiring self-cleaning surfaces.
Runners-Up Recognised
Jesse Mcmullan and Noah Lawrenson from The Studio Liverpool were named runners-up for the Intermediate Science award for their work on sustainable insulation. Valentina Carmignani, a student at Lancaster Girls' Grammar School, also secured a runner-up spot for the Intermediate Technology award with a quantum computing project.
Awards Ceremony at The Big Bang Fair
The winners were celebrated at an awards ceremony during The Big Bang Fair, held at Birmingham's NEC from June 9 to June 11.
Praise from Sponsors
Rosie McHaffie from Stantec said: "Phoebe-Frances' project first stood out because of its strong community focus. They demonstrated passion to solve real-life issues and apply STEM principles to solve big challenges. I loved that the business model was rooted in collaboration with other local organisations such as the council and the new stadium."
Clare Grimes from Stantec added: "The Stantec STEM outreach leadership team were delighted to once again support The Big Bang Competition. The Stantec Developing Future Communities award gives students the opportunity to think about how they can advance the quality of life for communities whether round the corner or across the globe. I want to express my thanks to our judges this year who worked with all the entrants to choose our very worthy winner."
Andrew Hockey from the ECITB said: "Huge congratulations to the winners of the ECITB Teamwork Award. The project stood out not only for its creativity and technical thinking, but for the way the team collaborated to solve problems."
Mat Parker from the ECITB added: "UK engineering sectors are on the verge of the greatest industrial undertaking since the last Industrial Revolution, with major investment and transformation taking place across energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and net zero technologies. It is therefore critical that we inspire the next generation of engineers and technicians by showing them how their skills, creativity and interests can lead to careers that help define the future. At the ECITB, we are proud to support The Big Bang Competition. It gives young people the opportunity to apply STEM skills in real-world contexts, build confidence and gain visibility of the exciting opportunities across engineering and construction."
Dr Hilary Leevers from EngineeringUK said: "Massive congratulations to Adina, Alice, Emilia, Farah, Olivia and Phoebee-Frances. Their curiosity and creativity have driven them to produce some brilliant STEM projects addressing some really big societal problems. They should all be very proud of their dedication and hard work. Competitions like The Big Bang Competition help young people connect their passions with making a real-world difference, it shows young people a future in engineering and technology is possible for them."
