insideKENT Magazine Issue 88 - July 2019 | Page 163

NEWS
HOMEWOOD SCHOOL STUDENT WINS ENGINEER
LEADERS AWARD FOR SOUTH EAST
The competition, which involves over 23,000 students
across the country every year, requires entrants to
answer the question: “If you were an engineer, what
would you do?” Through interviewing an engineer,
entrants identify a pr oblem, then dra w out and
annotate a solution to it and explain why the solution
should be man ufactured. Every entry is car efully
reviewed and graded by a team of qualified engineers
and educational experts.
A Year 10 student from Kent has been named as a
top engineer leader for the South East in a regional
secondary school competition. 14-year-old Lilly from
Homewood Sc hool & Sixth F orm Centr e in
Tenterden scooped the title after bea ting off stiff
competition in her age group in the annual Primary
and Secondary Engineer Leaders Awards, run by
Primary Engineer.
For her engineering problem, Lilly chose a window
in which the glass colour can change at the press of
a button. Her inspiration was the desir e to find a
way to make people feel happier and enab le them
to proactively improve their mood. She thought that
it would be a good idea if people were able to change
their window colour, and thereby the light sour ce
coming into a room, to a colour that made them feel
more relaxed and happy.
Lilly developed the concept following an interview
with J ohn Ric hie of specialist pr oduct design
company 4C Design. She hopes tha t people who
experience seasonal affective disorder during dark
winters or spend a lot of time in the dark, perhaps
doing shift work, will also benefit from the idea. Her
design also features a timer so that the window can
be dimmed f or slee p times , w hich could be
particularly helpful f or y oung c hildren or e ven
travellers adjusting to a new time zone.
Lilly received her trophy at Christ Church University,
in Canterbury, which is supporting the competition,
prior to the official opening of an exhibition for all
shortlisted entries in the South East.
MEDWAY SCHOOLS CHALLENGED TO ‘MAKE THEIR MARK’ AT
NATIONAL CIRCUIT CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MEDWAY
Local primary schoolchildren are being encouraged
to get cr eative and help decora te the r oute f or
the HSBC UK | National Circuit Championships
2019, which takes place in R ochester on Sunda y
21st July 2019.
Medway school pupils are being challenged to create
a colourful w elcome f or Britain ’s top rider s b y
decorating large silhouettes of a racing cyclist. All
submitted designs to the Make Y our Mar k
competition will then feature on the 1.6km cycling
route, which will start and finish on the Esplanade.
As one of the highlights of the national road racing
calendar, the championships is set to attract thousands
of local r esidents and cy cling enthusiasts to
Rochester’s cobbled streets, with Rochester Castle
providing a dramatic backdrop to the event.
The colourful designs may reflect Medway’s heritage
and histor y, cycling, or the sc hool’s colour s and
aspirations. T he designs will be judged b y
representatives from British Cycling and members
of the public will be able to have their say as they
will be put on displa y a t a special e xhibition a t
Rochester Cathedral on the afternoon of the Medway
Mile on Friday 19th July. The winning design will
win a coaching and activity session with a specialist
British Cycling Go-Ride coach at their school. cycling event provides a fantastic opportunity f or
residents to wa tch elite cy clists compete on their
doorstep and will no doubt inspir e some residents
to take up cycling. I would like to take this opportunity
to encourage schools to get involved and decorate
one of the silhouettes for race day on 21st July. We
are looking f orward to w elcoming thousands of
cycling enthusiasts to Medway and we hope residents
will also line Rochester’s historic cobbled streets to
support the elite cyclists, as well as those taking part
in the Medway Big Ride.”
Cllr Ho ward Doe , Med way Council’s Portfolio
Holder f or Comm unity Services , said: “W e ar e
delighted to be hosting the HSBC UK| Na tional
Circuit Championships in R ochester next month
and I’m pleased tha t we will be celebra ting with
children from local primary schools. The national www.medway.gov.uk/bigride
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