Future energy leaders? Crawley students shine in hackathon

Six teams of Year 10 GCSE students from St Wilfrid’s Catholic School brainstormed new ideas to help people take part in ‘energy flexibility’, where energy customers are incentivised to use less energy at peak times to reduce the load on the power grid. Flexibility is part of the process to balance supply and demand on electricity networks.

The collaboration was organised by UK Power Networks in partnership with Motivez, to give science lessons a real-world twist and inspire a passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) among young minds.

Each team devised an idea to overcome potential barriers to benefiting from energy flexibility services, such as digital skills or language. They then pitched it to a Dragons’ Den style panel of experts from UK Power Networks’ innovation team – and the winning team secured work experience with them this summer.

Eden Lunghy, programme manager at Motivez, said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work in collaboration with UK Power Networks and bring this hackathon to life. I was beyond impressed by the calibre of solutions and prototypes developed by UK Power Networks and presented by the students.

“Witnessing the students' technical knowledge of energy flexibility grow in such a short span of time, is a testament to the willpower and determination of our future STEM leaders. UK Power Networks played a crucial role in this journey, bringing their fantastic staff to mentor and serve as judges, providing invaluable insights and feedback. Their involvement had a profound impact in inspiring and motivating the cohort, helping them see the real-world applications of their ideas.

“This partnership reflects our shared commitment to diversifying the energy sector and creating more opportunities for underrepresented groups, particularly women, to thrive in STEM careers. We're looking forward to empowering more change-makers to enter the energy sector at UK Power Networks and beyond!”

Jamie Redmayne, Year 10 leader and maths teacher at St Wilfrid’s Catholic School, said: “The hackathon was a great experience that the students thoroughly enjoyed and engaged with. They worked on their projects overnight, ready for their presentations on the second day, which was impressive and showed their investment in the project. I would definitely recommend the event or engage with it again.”

Natasha Paramasamy, STEM outreach specialist at UK Power Networks, said: “It was inspiring to see the ingenuity that the students brought to the table. The hackathon not only gave students a platform to hone problem-solving skills and teamwork, but also encourages them to pursue careers in the STEM fields, which can lead to exciting careers in the energy industry.

“We hope the event has left a lasting impact on the young innovators at St Wilfrid’s Catholic School and we are proud to support initiatives that encourage the next generation of innovators.”

Motivez empowers young people aged 14 to 25 from underrepresented backgrounds to solve the world’s biggest challenges through STEM, become change-makers, and progress into employment. They have supported over 13,000 young people through employability and advocacy programmes across the UK.

Motivez encourages business and education partners to introduce similar STEM programmes in new areas by contacting [email protected].