Young Engineer of the Year 2017 challenged Year 10 pupils to design, build and program real-life robots from scratch using pieces of Lego. They then had to race against the clock to get the machines to complete animal themed tasks on a pre-designed First Lego League competition board. The idea was to give students a realistic idea of what a future career in engineering could entail by setting them a real-life brief over a nine-month period.
Jason Bradbury, best known for his time presenting Channel 5's 'The Gadget Show', hosted the event and also took on a LEGO Robot battle of his own in the final tournament, competing against a team of KMF engineering apprentices.
The overall winner of the Young Engineer of the Year was the team from Endon High. Endon's Design and Technology teacher, Mr S Mitchell, said: "KMF's Young Engineer programme has captured the imagination of a group of students and inspired them in a way I could not have imagined."
The robot challenge was just one element of the competition. Young people were also measured on teamwork skills and had to deliver a presentation to a group of judges, based on an animal problem they had been given.
A seven-strong squad from Ormiston Meridian Academy Sandon, came up with an environmentally-friendly product to help solitary bees find somewhere to nest, which later won them the award of 'Project Presentation'.
The Lego Project is being supported by First Lego League and Institution of Electrical Engineering.
Visit our Institution of Electrical Engineering to view the photographs from this event.