Innovation and Ingenuity Flow in Annual DT Competition
In last year's competition, entrants were tasked with building a chair out of cardboard, without the help of glue or any other fixings. Scored on their design, market potential, comfort and durability, a close competition was ultimately won by a team from Park Community School. They returned this year along with students from Hamble School, Midhurst Rother College, Westgate, and Winchester College, who each entered two teams.
The pupils were challenged to build a water carrier that could accurately measure specified volumes of water. The water tower needed to ‘supply’ and ‘shut off’ water as and when needed, delivering water to a container one metre away in a controlled manner. Teams were only permitted to use the limited materials provided but could trade with other teams. These included items such as wooden dowelling, tape, plastic tubes as well as a few red herrings such as sand. They were judged on their design, ability to control the water flow and the amount of water successfully delivered.
The teams came up with a variety of designs, with some involving bungs or improvised taps, and others relying on changes in pressure when the lid of the bottle was removed to turn the flow on and off. Their innovative designs showed how the different teams had approached the problem in different ways. Some teams had elegant supporting structures that allowed their bottles to be tipped to dispense water whilst others relied on gravity for the water to travel down the tube.
Westgate were the proud winners this year. Their innovative design scored highly on the accuracy of their measurements and aesthetics. They won a book prize ‘To Engineer is Human’ which can be added to their school library to inspire future students.
We look forward to hosting the event again next year and welcoming students from across the region to compete again.
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