Future innovators acknowledged at Oxfordshire High Sheriff Young Engineer Awards 2023
The annual High Sheriff Young Engineer Awards took place on June 26 at Abingdon & Witney
College to recognise students who show great promise in the fields of engineering, resistant
materials and design technology.
State schools across the county were invited to nominate students aged 12-18 across three age
categories, Years 12 & 13, Years 10 & 11 and Years 8 & 9.
The awards were sponsored by Abingdon & Witney College, The Engineering Trust, and Lucy Group Ltd, a long-standing Oxford company that engineers smart electrics for the built environment.
The judging panel comprised Richard Dick (executive chairman, Lucy Group), Sally Scott (high
sheriff of Oxfordshire), Andy Linfoot (engineering director, Lucy Group) and Mark Vingoe (CEO,
The Engineering Trust).
Prizes included £400 for the winning student in each category and £1,000 for the students’ respective school or college. There were also runner-up prizes in each category, a Team Award and an overall High Sheriff Award.
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Winners were as follows: the Year 12 & 13 Award was given to Kye Gustafsson of Abingdon & Witney College, for designing and making a working centrifugal pump, Kyle also received the High Sheriff Award; the Year 10 & 11 Award was given to Tom Wigley of St Birinus, for designing and making a working desk lamp; the Year 8 & 9 Award went to Lucy Busson of Fitzharry's for research-driven approach to Design & Technology.
Other awards included the Team Award, won by a UTC Oxfordshire team comprised of Hannah Weston, Charlotte Turner, Maddie Pryce, Floyd Rayner, Thomas Bristow, Cambell Payne. A spokesperson for Abingdon & Witney college said: ''this team of year 12 students is taking part in the Engineering Development Trust (EDT) Industrial Cadets Gold Award, working with Abingdon-based aerospace company Reaction Engines, who have set them a challenge of recovering heat and converting that to energy. The UTC team consists of 50:50 males/female students and a mix between Engineering and Science students''.
Judge and founder of the Oxfordshire High Sheriff Young Engineer Awards Richard Dick said: “The calibre of entries this year was excellent, so I applaud everyone who was nominated. The next generation of students who choose STEM careers will be instrumental in finding the scientific and engineering solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. Seeing how these promising young engineers think – and turn concepts into reality – gives me every reason to believe that we will be in good hands.”
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