Second place in national competition for Collyer’s

A team of talented students from Collyer’s took part in the final of a national technology and innovation competition run by PA Consulting.
Tomas Murphy, James Seden-Smith, Alana Smith, Becky Inkpen, Germaine Dowling and Holly Holder SUS-150415-122328001Tomas Murphy, James Seden-Smith, Alana Smith, Becky Inkpen, Germaine Dowling and Holly Holder SUS-150415-122328001
Tomas Murphy, James Seden-Smith, Alana Smith, Becky Inkpen, Germaine Dowling and Holly Holder SUS-150415-122328001

The competition, which aims to inspire the engineers of the future, required teams to invent something making use of a Raspberry Pi that would improve health and well-being.

The Collyer’s team, comprising Computing, ICT and Electronics students, built and programmed a sleep monitor – the PillowPi – which emitted sound and light alerts when ambient conditions dropped below those required for a good night’s sleep.

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The final, compered by Maggie Philbin of Tomorrow’s World fame, was held at the Science Museum and the students were treated to an action packed day and a great lunch!

Subject Leader for Computer Science at Collyer’s, Diane Dowling, was thrilled with the students’ performance: “It was our first year entering this competition and none of the students had done anything like this before.

“They worked really hard to build and program the monitor, and their pitch to the judges was incredibly professional.”

The entries were judged by a panel including BBC Technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, and the team had to answer a wide range of challenging questions about the design, build and commercial potential of the project. They impressed the judges with their professionalism, team spirit and communication skills, but were narrowly beaten into second place by an impressive eye movement tracking system.

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Diane Dowling said: “The four girls on the team performed brilliantly and I’m hoping that they will inspire more to get involved with engineering projects in the future!”

Assistant Principal Melanie Russell was delighted: “All at Collyer’s are incredibly proud of the team’s achievements on the national stage. Well done to one and all!”

Diane Dowling added: “The next exciting challenge is to put the re-engineered Pi into space – something the team is currently seeking sponsorship for!”

Report and picture contributed by Collyer’s.