Students from Devon school win national Robotics Challenge competition
Students from Torquay Academy in Devon have been named as the 2023 UK winners of the EEP Robotics Challenge.
The winning team includes year 7 pupils Matthew, Poppy, Ivan, Riain, Benjamin, Emily, Oliver and Alfie. They competed against hundreds of other students across the country in a bid for the top prize. The team also scooped an additional award for the speed and control challenge.
The EEP Robotics Challenge aims to introduce student teams to real-world engineering through technology, robotics and computing tasks. The engagement programme aims to help students put their school learning into context and discover exciting new careers.
This year’s finals and awards ceremony took place at The Big Bang Fair at the NEC in Birmingham. The student teams completed a series of missions to discover what engineers can do to create a cleaner, more sustainable world. They learnt to build a variety of LEGO® robotics kits and programme it to complete a speed and control test and perform a set of environmentally themed tasks such as planting a tree.
Kevin Hadley, teacher and Head of Enterprise at Torquay Academy, commented: “It was a real honour to be involved in such a prestigious competition and to see our students flourish in the challenges set. I am so proud of what they have achieved through teamwork, problem solving, resilience, creativity and above all seeing the confidence this experience has given these potential engineers of the future."
Kim Biddulph, Engagement Projects Manager at EngineeringUK - which runs the programme said: “Huge congratulations to our winners from Torquay Academy. The team performed astoundingly well at the finals and their commitment and passion was plain to see.
“We hope all the students who have taken part in the EEP Robotics Challenge this year have enjoyed the experience and feel inspired by the variety, excitement and opportunity presented by a career in engineering.”
Student teams from Emmanuel College, St Paul’s RC Academy and The Crypt School were awarded a Highly Commended from the judges. Teams from Mercia School, The Rochester Grammar School and South Craven School also won awards in the categories of project presentation, teamwork challenge, and robot challenge respectively.
The EEP Robotics Challenge is led by EngineeringUK and Helsington Foundation in partnership with the Royal Air Force and Network Rail.
Huge congratulations to our winners from Torquay Academy. The team performed astoundingly well at the finals and their commitment and passion was plain to see.
— Kim Biddulph, Engagement Projects Manager at EngineeringUK
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About EngineeringUK
EngineeringUK is a not-for-profit organisation that drives change so more young people choose engineering and technology careers. Our mission is to enable more young people from all backgrounds to be inspired, informed and progress into engineering and technology.
We work closely with our Corporate Members and in partnership with hundreds of organisations. We lead collaborative efforts to improve the impact of all engineering and tech inspiration and careers activities for young people through Tomorrow’s Engineers and managing The Tomorrow’s Engineers Code.
We ignite a passion for STEM among young people from all backgrounds through EUK Education and our school engagement programmes such as The Big Bang. Our careers resources help teachers bring STEM to life through real-world engineering and tech stories via Neon.
Our research and evidence build insight into the current workforce and our future needs. And our evaluations build understanding of what really works to inspire and inform the next generation. We also advocate for policy development in STEM and careers education and workforce planning for engineering and tech.
