The Alu D&T Challenge, our national competition for 11-14 year olds, is back! The Challenge encourages students to think about the importance of sustainable design, using aluminium.  

The competition is a part of a free online teaching resource developed by Alupro in partnership with the Aluminium Federation (ALFED) and leading aluminium reprocessor Novelis UK.  The resources have been endorsed by the Design & Technology Association (DATA).

The free teaching resource contains lesson plans, design briefs, stimulus sheets and guidance for teachers and supports the D&T Curriculum at key stage three (11-14 year olds) throughout the UK.  As part of the Challenge pupils can tackle design briefs and submit their ideas for consideration by a panel of judges drawn from across industry.   Based on the success of last year’s Challenge, which saw entries from over 900 students whittled down to six winners, this year’s competition setsdesign challenges in three categories: Transport, building and packaging recycling.

The winning student in each category will win a second generation 3D printer for their school, plus £200 in vouchers.  The same prize will also be awarded to the best team entry across all three categories.  Winners will also be invited to a celebration event at Thinktank Science Museum in Birmingham.  Full details and terms & Conditions are available on the Challenge website and the closing date for entries is Friday 17th January 2014.

Alupro Marketing & Communications Manager, Diana Caldwell says: “We are looking for as many schools as possible to get involved in the Challenge this year.  The Challenge website has everything teachers need to build the challenge into D&T lessons, homework or STEM club activity.  The more students we get involved, the greater awareness we will see of the value of aluminium, its sustainability and its importance in product design.

“After last year’s competition we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from teachers about the value of the Challenge to this age group, so we really hope more schools will take up the Challenge this year. I know the judges are already looking forward to seeing some new and creative ideas.”