Ten students from schools around the UK have been named as winners in the Alu D&T Challenge, a national competition for 11 to 14 year olds, funded by the aluminium industry to inspire young designers to create sustainable products using aluminium.

Students and teachers travelled to Birmingham on 7^th March to receive their prizes and meet the sponsors at a celebratory event at Thinktank Science Museum.

The national schools’ competition, linked to the Design and Technology curriculum, helps engage pupils with the material properties and sustainability potential of aluminium by challenging them to design a sustainable product for the future using aluminium. The design challenges are based on real-life briefs faced by designers, engineers and manufacturers in three categories – transport, building and packaging.  They form part of a wider package of cross-curricular teaching resources which have been developed by the aluminium industry to support teachers of pupils aged 7 to 14.

Judging took place in two stages, reducing over 100 entries to a final shortlist of 18; the final winners were selected by a panel made up of senior figures from the aluminium industry, and specialists in engineering and architecture.

The winning entry in each of the three design challenges received a Magnetic MODI robotics kit and a Mini Mambo Drone for their school alongside £100 worth of vouchers for the pupils. Prizes were also awarded those who were shortlisted.

The grand prize of an educational visit to Milan, kindly sponsored by Novelis, was awarded to the entry deemed to be the most outstanding design across the three categories. The two-day trip for the students and their D&T teacher will include the chance to visit two Novelis manufacturing plants on the outskirts of Milan, and an opportunity to explore this fast-paced metropolis

The panel of judges agreed the 2017/18 winners were:

Vehicle of the future category:

• Winner: Toby Davies & Archie McTeare, St Ives School.
• Runner Up: Alicia McCarthy, Watford Grammar School for Girls.

Garden building for a creative homeworker category:

• Winner: Finley Hawkins, St. Benedict’s Catholic High School.
• Runner up: Chloe James & Georgia Benjamin, Pipers Corner School.

Innovative new packaging solution category:

• Winner: Sanjita Akter, Emma Baldwin Quirk, Libby Evans, Weatherhead High School.
• Runner up: From Portsmouth High School.

Overall grand prize winners:

• Sanjita Akter, Emma Baldwin Quirk, Libby Evans, Weatherhead High School.

Speaking about the winning submissions at the prize-giving ceremony in Birmingham, Alu D&T Challenge judge and sponsor Andy Doran of Novelis said: “Meeting the winners of the competition has been a fantastic experience. The enthusiasm and talent these young people show for designing products that will benefit society and protect our environment is so uplifting.  Between them, the winners demonstrated some really progressive ideas about designing sustainable products using aluminium, and I hope we have inspired some future engineers, designers and materials scientists who will make a difference to industry in the future.”

Alupro’s executive director, Rick Hindley, said: “Since we launched the Alu D&T Challenge back in 2012, we have held four national competitions and have received over 1600 competition entries from nearly 200 schools.   The entries into the 2017/18 competition are some of the highest standard we have seen so far and it has been a pleasure to meet some of these talented young designers today at our celebration event.   I would like to thank the Alu D&T Challenge sponsors and partners, who provide funding and commit their time and expertise to making the Challenge a success.’

Alu D&T Challenge Main Sponsors and Partners

 Alupro

The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) is a not-for-profit company which represents the leading aluminium packaging producers, reprocessors, foil converters, can makers, fillers and brand owners in the UK. Alupro acts as a voice on behalf of its members on issues of government policy and legislative development. It is working to meet the industry’s obligation to both achieve and exceed recycling rates for aluminium packaging, currently set for 70% by 2020. Alupro develops and manages campaigns on behalf of its members and partners in the aluminium, and wider metal packaging, sector. www.alupro.org.uk

ALFED

The Aluminium Federation (ALFED) is the trade body that represents the UK aluminium industry. With members spanning whole lifecycle of aluminium, it plays a key role in supporting its members’ needs. This includes providing technical and commercial services, as well as engagement in political lobbying with the UK Government and at EU level. ALFED also plays a key role in promoting aluminium as a metal for the future to a wide range of audiences, from schools and colleges to designers, engineers and manufacturers. www.alfed.org.uk

Arconic

Arconic creates breakthrough products that shape industries. Working in close partnership with our customers we solve complex engineering challenges to transform the way we fly, drive, build and power.  Through the ingenuity of our people and cutting-edge advanced manufacturing techniques we deliver these products at a quality and efficiency that ensure customer success and shareholder value.

 Befesa

Befesa is a leading international company that provides innovative sustainable solutions for the management and recycling of industrial residues, including aluminium residues to produce high value aluminium alloys.

Befesa manages more than 2.2 Mt of residues, returning nearly 1.3 Mt to the production of new materials through recycling. http://www.befesa.com/web/en/

Novelis
Novelis Inc. is the global leader in aluminium rolled products and the world’s largest recycler of aluminium. The company operates in ten countries, has approximately 11,500 employees and reported $10 billion in revenue for its 2017 fiscal year. Novelis supplies premium aluminium sheet and foil products to transportation, packaging, construction, industrial and consumer electronics markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America. Novelis is a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited, an industry leader in aluminium and copper, and metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai, India. For more information, visit novelis.com and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/NovelisInc and Twitter at twitter.com/Novelis.

Technology Supplies Ltd

Technology Supplies is the leading Design, Technology and Engineering specialist for education worldwide. Our globally trusted services include installations, from design and consultation to commissioning and training; maintenance services for all types of educational workshops; supply of over 8,000 curricula-aligned products; and excellent aftercare support across all products and equipment.

i2r

i2r Packaging Solutions Limited manufactures a comprehensive range of wrinkle wall and smooth wall aluminium foil containers used throughout the food industry, providing high quality, lightweight, robust products, for many leading consumer brands. i2r’s experienced development team focuses on custom designed innovative tray solutions developed in conjunction with major retailers and food processors. Together with their parent company Contital S.r.L.
i2r supply the UK, Eire, Continental Europe, Middle East, North America and Asia. With the environment at the forefront of our minds, i2r produces
unique industry products that use less material achieved through intellectually protected designs.

Impression Technologies

Impression Technologies was formed in January 2013 to act as a portal between Imperial College London’s Engineering Faculty and automotive and transport manufacturers.   Its HFQ® technology has already been taken up by a number of high-end manufacturers in the automotive industry.

The company has recently moved its premises to Coventry and opened a state-of the art Production and Technology Development Centre to showcase its innovative technology and its application to production processes.