Sentinus Rotary Technology Challenge 2019
Grosvenor’s Rotary team: Abby Corbett, Dan Black, Jack Lamont and Helen Osborne
Congratulations to Grosvenor’s Rotary team, comprising Year Ten pupils Abby Corbett, Dan Black, Jack Lamont and Helen Osborne, which placed first in the prestigious ‘Sentinus Rotary Technology Challenge 2019’, held at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown, on Tuesday 25th June.
The team was given its design brief at 9.30am on the morning of the event – to design and build a bridge with a section that could be drawn to allow large ships to pass, as well as to support a 2kg weight. The pupils had two hours to plan their project, followed by two further hours to construct its final design. They were given 50 plastic straws and 20 sheets of card, along with six pulleys and some string.
The team’s specific brief was to create a bridge that was 650mm long, 500mm of which was to be fixed, whilst the remaining 150mm had to be able to be lifted to allow a large boat to pass underneath. The bridge was not allowed to touch the base that they had been given, and both sections of the bridge had to support a 1.5 kilogram weight.
Throughout the task all four of Grosvenor’s pupils performed superbly, showing real maturity in their planning; they effectively identified the strengths of each individual within the team and allocated tasks accordingly. They didn’t panic at any stage and trusted both their designs and their ability. The design sheets they produced were ranked first overall, as was their constructed bridge, in spite of the high level of opposition provided by the eleven other competing teams on the day. Despite being tight for time towards the end of the contest, the quartet remained calm and managed to execute its idea perfectly in what was very much a team effort.
Well done to Abby, Dan, Jack and Helen on their superb performance at this elite contest, as well as Grosvenor’s Head of Technology and Design Mrs Emma McMillen, who accompanied them on the day, providing encouragement and expert advice throughout.
Hopefully this will be the first of many more Technology and Design related successes enjoyed within Grosvenor over the years to come.