Record Number Of Jersey Pupils Wow In Annual Engineering Competition
An awards and exhibition event was recently held in Highlands Great Hall, celebrating the best and most unique engineering and problem-solving ideas from pupils across Jersey schools.
More than 1000 local pupils took part in the competition, run by Primary Engineer, to answer the question “If you were an engineer, what would you do?”. All entrants are given the chance to interview an engineer and are then inspired to follow their lead by identifying a problem in the world to come up with a creative solution to that problem.
This annual competition saw over 71,000 pupils taking part across the UK, and a record number of 1139 entrants from Jersey. Entries were then graded by local industry professionals before a panel of judges picked two winners and two highly commended for each year group, with pupils aged from 3-19 years old.
Jersey Electricity’s Chief Operating Officer, Mark Preece, Skills Jersey’s Dave Roworth, Sergey Khaustov from Kingston University and Primary Engineer’s UK Director, Chris Rochester, were joined by special guest, The Lieutenant-Governor, His Excellency Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd CBE, for the presentation to pupils on the night.
Mark Preece, Chief Operating Officer at Jersey Electricity said, “Primary Engineer is one of our most loved partnerships. It’s always fascinating to see the world through the pupils’ eyes and see how they would use their creativity and problem-solving skills to find a solution to problems. I know my colleagues who have visited schools to talk to the students always come away feeling inspired by their conversations with the entrants and we are always impressed with the creative solutions they come up with. Well done to everyone who entered this year’s competition – the quality of entries and ideas was exceptional.”
Every year University and Industry Partners of Primary Engineer select an idea to turn into a working Prototype from the previous year’s winning designs. Uniquely two prototypes were unveiled at the ceremony. “The Walkie Frame” brought to life by Thales, based on the idea of Year 7 student, Erin Feltham, from Les Quennevais School and “The Anti-Shake Mug” brought to life by Kingston University, based on the idea of Cara Howe in Year 8 at JCG.
Dave Roworth commented “It has been an exceptional year of competition, by far our biggest number of entries which shows the interest and the talent from within our schools, and a testament to our many schoolteachers who continue to inspire their pupils to think like an engineer and solve problems from everyday living. Congratulations to all the winners, including Year 3 pupil Matilda Howe from JCP, whose idea “The Hungertiser” was awarded the special ‘Judges Award’ for 2024.“
Primary Engineer are recognised for their award-winning work in the UK, bringing together industry and education to deliver engineering challenges for young people and communities, and helping to reduce the gap in skills for this area of the economy.
Chris Rochester, UK Director at Primary Engineer said “The ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’ competition enables pupils around the UK to identify themselves with engineering and technology and to demonstrate essential problem-finding and problem-solving skills. In Jersey, we have again been wowed by the creativity and ingenuity of the over 1,000 pupils who have taken part this year! Our partnership with Jersey Electricity and the support of Skills Jersey and Kingston University means the competition continues to grow here on Jersey with more schools and pupils taking part year on year and for them to have the opportunity to show us how engineering and technology can make the world a better place and to see a potential future for themselves within it.“
Local engineers and companies wishing to be involved in this initiative for 2025 should contact [email protected] to find out more.