Students wowed some of the UK’s top engineering minds with an interactive hockey stick to win the National Award for Innovation in the revered Engineering Education Scheme.
The King’s School team of six Year 12 students, based in Macclesfield, north of England, have worked over the last six months to produce a revolutionary new sports training aid.
The young designers produced a prototype and an 80-page report detailing their advances to impress the panel, which included using a micro-computer, materials science and data gathering and analysis.
The idea was brainstormed with the school’s hockey department before they set about the task.
Team member Abi Breese-Tovey said: “The concept centred on negative reinforcement, getting the stick to make a noise if it was held incorrectly. We also wanted to send information from the stick to an app on the coaches’ phones detailing how hard the ball was being hit according to each type of stroke.”
Local business owner and mentor John Blackwell, said: “As a country, we have a history of pioneering and innovative engineers and King’s Physics department, led by Dr Hartnett, is introducing and inspiring new students to be tomorrow’s great British engineers.”
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