Young engineers take two top awards at Rotary Technology Tournament
The Rotary Technology Tournament, hosted by Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), at Catterick Garrison, went even better than expected with our Year 9 and Year 12 teams scooping two top prizes. We took four teams of four students to the event. The Year 9 team included Ellie, Francesca, Molly and Henry, with two Year 10 teams, with Daniel, Cameron, Oliver, Emily, Alfred, Cain, Dale and Kirsty, as well as one Year 12 team, with Jack, Astrah, Ethan and Arianna.
The students were tasked with designing and making a device that could pick up radioactive material (a tennis ball), which was sat inside a wooden box with a hole in the front of it, from over a metre away and then place it gently on a small target on the floor. This is not as easy as it might sound! The older the year group the narrower the window to remove the radioactive material through was. Marks were awarded for a range of criteria including the production of a design portfolio.
Five other schools participated including Barnard Castle School, Cundall Manor School, Bedale High School, Hurworth School and Wensleydale School and Sixth Form College, with an age range of participants from 12 to 18 years, with each school having a number of teams. The Sixth form team was also pitted against teams of REME soldiers, each a little older than them as there were two REME companies taking part as guest teams.
Our Year 9 won the Foundation Level event and the Year 12s won the Advanced Level event and they were presented with a trophy and book vouchers. Our Year 10 teams achieved 4th and 5th place out of around 12 teams in their age group. Our Year 12 even beat a REME team! The trophies, prizes and certificates were awarded by senior REME officers and Rotary members. A correspondent from BFBS Radio was also present and the event coordinator specifically asked for two of our students and Mr Wilson to do a recorded interview to be broadcast on their service.
Richard Wilson, DT and Engineering Teacher said: “Our students were exemplary in their maturity and performance. The teams were presented with stunning glass trophies which we will proudly display at school.”
It was wonderful for the students to have the opportunity to take part in the tournament, which the Rotary Clubs of Richmond, Northallerton, Northallerton Mowbray, Thirsk and Wensleydale have organised for over 15 years. We are so grateful to the local Rotary clubs for their support and to REME for hosting the event. The tournament is sponsored by the West Yorkshire Society of Architects.
Richmond Rotarian Jos Huddleston who led the event commented: “It was really great to see the young people involved again. Their energy, commitment and technical skills were tremendous and, as ever, we were very grateful for the contribution of colleagues from all the Rotary Clubs and in particular to the REME Depot at Catterick and Royal Engineers for their support and the provision of a superb venue.’
Richmond Rotary Club President Emma Fulton said: “Rotary Clubs are very committed to supporting their local communities and it is particularly worthwhile to be involved with such outstanding young people. This seems even more important this year at a time of widespread anxiety and it is great to think that our future is in the hands of such talented individuals.”