Busy week for STEM Students

Last week was a busy one for Bancroft’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (aka STEM) students.  Firstly, a team of four U4 pupils (Maria Pieri, Melisa Kaner, Faheem Kirefu, and Lucy Sayer) travelled to the Imperial War Museum, Duxford to take part in the South East Regional Final of the Toyota Technology Challenge 2009-10.   The Challenge, targeted at pupils aged 11-16, required teams to design, build and then race an environmentally friendly model vehicle.  At the final the Bancroft’s team,  “Pixilate”, was required to deliver a presentation to the judges, to show their completed model vehicle and to race it on the Toyota Technology Challenge racetrack.  Over 330 schools registered to participate in this year’s challenge. The Bancroft’s team came a very laudable third.

Nine members of the L6 attended the Celebration and Assessment Day of the Engineering Education Scheme in England held at the University of Brighton.   The pupils, split into two teams, had been working on projects for six months. 

One team, sponsored by Amey Ltd, worked on a project investigating how to  improve an underpass under the A406 in Roding Lane, Redbridge, which is regularly covered in graffiti.  The main objective was to create long term solutions to the problem of graffiti; ultimately the aim is to prevent the graffiti from reappearing.  Another important objective was to create a safe environment for the local community. The team also had to consider the costs incurred by Amey each time the graffiti has to be removed from the underpass.The work not only involved researching various solutions and their effectiveness it also involved liaising with the local community as well as agencies such as the Environmental Agency to produce a set of long term solutions.  The set of solutions produced included the use of pink lighting, protective planting, green screens, anti-graffiti paint, mosquito devices, motion sensors, renewable lighting sources and anti-graffiti railings, a significant reduction in the fear of crime and creating a more environmentally friendly area.   In addition, the solutions suggested by the Bancroft’s team would result in savings for Amey.  We are grateful to Amey Ltd for their generous support of the Bancroft’s team.

The other team had been sponsored by the school to look into green energy sources for the school, such as solar thermal heaters.  These projects were judged for Gold Crest (Creativity in Science and Technology) awards.