Exeter schools make noise at The Big Bang

Exeter’s next generation of scientists, creators and technologists were rewarded for their ingenuity with a string of prizes at The Big Bang South West awards ceremony last week.

The annual fair, which showcases STEM projects from schools and colleges across the west country and offers winners the chance to compete for major national awards, was held for the fourth year running at University of Exeter on Thursday 26 June.

And, following a day of intense competition, with 130 projects from 450 students being judged by a panel of 85 experts, schools and colleges from the Exeter area really caught the eye, with a number of nominations in the prestigious National Science + Engineering Competition, and the chance to attend the national finals of the Big Bang Fair in March next year.

Exmouth Community College will be taking two teams to Birmingham NEC for the finals, with projects involving the construction of a wooden hammock and one looking at music visualisation, while Southbrook College’s ocean acidification project was also among the ten regional winners.

But the prizes did not stop there. Southbrook also won the South West Water-sponsored Best Communicator in Science and Maths award, and Exmouth’s students claimed two more: Young Engineers - The Duke of York’s Regional Award for Creative Use of Technology, for their hammock; and the Engineering Excellence Regional Award, for the music visualiser docking station.

West Exe Technology College also got in on the action, winning the Best STEM Club Group Project award, sponsored by TDK Lambda, for its Young Leaders initiative.

Finally, Queen Elizabeth’s Academy Trust went home to Crediton with the EDT-backed Go4Set ‘Best Engineering Solution’ award for their project looking at setting up a martial arts centre for their town.

The Big Bang also gave the 2,000 students aged 11-18 who attended from all over Cornwall and Devon the chance to meet some of the South West’s leading scientists, technologists, engineers and careers providers, with interactive stands from 85 regional and national businesses, including the Met Office, Western Power Distribution and South West Water.

Alex Ledbrooke, partnership manager for Education Business Partnership South West, said: “The calibre of the student projects this year was better than ever. The feedback we got from the judges was incredible; a lot of them said ‘we could sell it tomorrow, if only they weren’t 12 years old’. “There is a massive amount of effort going on in schools in STEM subjects and the students can see the benefit. All the sponsors and exhibitors came here to meet their future workforce. What we don’t want is for all these brilliant students in the South West to leave and take all their skills with them.”

The Big Bang South West is backed by the Education Business Partnership South West and run in conjunction with Careers South West.