The Faraday Challenge Days give students the opportunity to research, design and produce creative solutions to challenging engineering problems. The event was hosted by the IET, one of the world's leading professional societies for the engineering and technology community, in partnership with the University's department of Computer Science and Technology and the Access Partnership team.

Teams from Walton High School, Sir Herbert Leon Academy, St Paul’s Catholic School and Ashcroft High School took part in this year’s challenge. They got the chance to design and create a prototype using 3D printers, specialist circuits and design software - resources that students hadn’t had the opportunity to use before.

Dr Tahmina Ajmal, senior lecturer in Engineering said: “We were very pleased to host the IET Faraday Challenge for a second year at the University. This is an excellent initiative to encourage more students to consider studying engineering courses.

“I was especially pleased to see that among the school-aged students who attended, many of them were female, and I hope this will motivate some of them to pursue engineering courses and professions.”

One student said: ’I enjoyed the day a lot and would definitely do it again. The best part of the day was watching all our hard work come together and I learned how to use 3D printers and new software’.

The day aimed to provide students with an opportunity to develop their skills and confidence in STEM based subjects, as well as to help students consider STEM based careers and study opportunities in the future.

All of the teams worked extremely hard throughout the day and presented some very innovative prototypes. The presentation and prototype which most impressed the judge however, was the team from Ashcroft High School in Luton who took home the trophy.

If you are interested in learning more about working with local schools and colleges, contact the Access Partnership team by emailing access@beds.ac.uk