Budding young engineers have been praised for their skills and innovation after building and programming robots to take part in a series of ‘missions’ as part of a national competition.

The nine-strong team of KS3 students showcased their talents as part of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge. The team were part of Highfields' STEM club, led by Miss Prosser.

The challenge is a curriculum-linked national programme that gives 11-14 year-olds the chance to learn how to build, program and control autonomous LEGO robots to complete a series of ‘missions’ using LEGO MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 sets.

As the event is supported by the RAF, which is celebrating its centenary this year, the challenge had an aviation theme. Students had to complete a series of short ‘missions’, ranging from deploying aircraft and humanitarian aid, to speed racing. They also explained the reasons behind their designs and described how they had managed to overcome any problems they encountered to a judging panel of professional engineers.

Head of Maths & Science Learning School, Mr A Dean, said: “The students spoke with confidence and really impressed the judges with their responses to questions. They also researched, planned and presented their own response to a contemporary scientific problem developed by LEGO Education with the RAF regarding looking at how engineers could support humanitarian aid in the future. Our team chose to research this in terms of prosthetics and limb replacement.

“During the course of the day the students were praised for their exemplary behaviour, teamwork and for their persistence. Special mention was made during the awards session to the research team, with Year 8 student Lauren Poole being singled out for her confidence, eloquence and considered responses to the experts’ questions.”