Competitions

Annual Engineering and Technology Competition: 28th June 2013

This year we are once again pleased to invite you to enter our annual Engineering and Technology Competition which will be held in Chelmsford at the Rivermead Campus, Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, CM1 1SQ on Friday 28th June 2013.

The competition aims to encourage young people to take up a career in Engineering or Technology, and offers an opportunity to meet like-minded people in what we believe is a stimulating and fun environment.

There will be more than 25 prizes to compete for, donated by the Society and local businesses.

The competition this year will include the following categories:

1. School STEM Club Showcase (for School STEM Club work)
2. School Systems and Control Project entries
3. School Design Project entries.
4. Software (computer programming) entries. Open to all computer enthusiasts, programming clubs or STEM clubs for programs or apps. Home hobby software projects are also welcome. Any application, hardware platform and software package/tools accepted. Raspberry Pi projects (and similar platforms) are welcome. The age and experience of the student will be factored into the assessment. An exciting new opportunity from CSES to show what you can do with a computer.
5. And new for this year, a Sustainability Award: Anglia Ruskin University have this year agreed to award a prize, judged across all Categories (1 to 4 above), for the best project entry which in their view demonstrates how Engineering and Technology can tackle this very important issue facing our planet. Read more on this below.

Competition results (subject to the judges' final ratification) are announced on the day and the prizes will be formally awarded on the 13th July at Anglia Ruskin University.

Sustainability and SEEDS

Last year CSES arranged a visit to the House of Commons for the winners (with their teachers and some of our sponsors) of the 2012 competition. Simon Burns MP hosted the visit and Dr Tony West, Director of Research, Development and Commercial Services at Anglia Ruskin University accompanied us. We were all guests of our joint sponsors: Vic Leverett from Finmeccanica and Harry Rosenbaum from CSES.

At the event Dr Tony West announced two new interesting and fun awards for this forthcoming competition. Both will be sponsored by Anglia Ruskin University.

SEEDS Award

Anglia Ruskin University is a key member of the SEED Programme in the south east of England.

SEED is short for:

Social
Enterprise
Executive
Development

Anglia Ruskin University actively supports and promotes the programme through a number of events and initiatives. One initiative aimed at young people and school children is a competition to grow the tallest sunflower (or other tall plant) from a SEED.

To enter you can either:

• Send a photograph of your plant (complete with a ruler alongside so we can clearly see the height!) to [entry closed] before the competition date.
• Or bring your plant along to the competition on 28th June to be judged.

The tallest physical entries or photographic entries will win prizes! Photoshop creations will not count! Anglia Ruskin University judging decisions shall be final.

There will be a special display area for all plants and photos of plants at the Competition.

Have fun and see what you can grow from a seed.

You might think about project entries that employ science and technology in the sunflower-growing competition – monitoring its growth, counting the number of visiting insects in an hour, number of seeds produced – which would make it a bit more interesting.

Sunflowers are also great for biodiversity, producing pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinating insects and seeds for birds, especially when planted in groups and with other bee-friendly plants.

Sustainability Award

The Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University is committed to playing a key role in the development of practical solutions to the challenges facing humanity. This year it will be awarding the GSI Sustainability Award to the entry which best demonstrates how engineering and technology can help conserve natural resources and help tackle our negative impact on the world.

Your project may, for example:

• Create energy from renewable resources (water, wind, sunlight etc)
• Re-use worn out things to create energy or a new product
• Package products in a more sustainable way, eg by using fewer and less harmful resources, using renewable instead of finite resources
• Require less energy to manufacture or in operation
• Use energy from renewable sources to manufacture or in operation
• Reduce pollution escaping into the atmosphere
• Reduce pollution escaping onto land or into water courses
• Clean up pollution spills using mechanical, chemical or biological methods, or purify water making it suitable for a wider range of uses
• Design or create a new or better way to measure or monitor the environment or our impact on it

This is far from an exhaustive list, and we would encourage you to think broadly about your project's sustainability potential.

All project entries are eligible for this award. But you should indicate on your project entry form (copy attached) in the "Brief Description of Project" that you would like your Project to be considered for the GSI Sustainability Award.

More than one entry from a school or college is permitted.

All Sustainability Award project entries will be judged by the GSI at Anglia Ruskin University. Their decision is final.