Rachel scoops award at Big Bang Fair

Rachel represented Banbridge Academy at the ‘Sentinus Young Innovators’ Competition as part of ‘The Big Bang Fair’, which was held in the Ulster University, Jordanstown this month.

The Sentinus Young Innovators’ Competition is one of the largest events of its kind in the UK, celebrating the achievements of young people in STEM.

At its centre is an exhibition of innovative and exciting project work carried out by students from schools across Northern Ireland.

Rachel’s A-level Technology and Design project was a classroom presence monitoring system called ‘Kidzcount’.

This system allows children to self-register on arrival to school, encouraging independence from a young age.

As children’s safety is of paramount importance Rachel included an alarm system as part of her project that would trigger if a pupil left the premises unattended.

Rachel was awarded the Sensata Technologies Electronics Award for the project demonstrating the best use of electronics.

The competition was very well attended and provided a great opportunity to meet students from different schools and representatives from a wide range of engineering companies.

As well as the competition, the fair also included a range of 30 stands provided by local businesses, universities and public sector bodies demonstrating the use of science and technology in the workplace.