Two Monmouth pupils have been chosen by David Davies MP as his constituency winners in the local round of the We Made It! competition, a national project aimed at getting young people thinking about careers in manufacturing.
Mr Davies encouraged youngsters aged 13-16 to submit designs for a gadget, gizmo, toy or tool they’d like to see made.
The winning entry came from 14 year-old students Danielle Browne and Georgia Foster at Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls, whose joint idea for a hand operated kettle caught the MP’s eye.
Their concept design was created as part of a Design Technology project in HMSG where mechanisms are studied within the very real context of the modern world and the need for sustainable and innovative design. Students study issues such as Global Overshoot Day and look at national population data to guide their design thinking as well as looking at appropriate technology.
Danielle and Georgia will now proceed to the next round of the competition, where a panel of manufacturing experts will whittle a shortlist of 32 down to six national entries. Two overall finalists will then be selected, with the chance to turn their idea into a real-life prototype.
They have also been invited by Mr Davies to attend a special reception and awards ceremony in Parliament on 29th January 2013.
“We Made It! is a fantastic way to inspire young people and help them realise that manufacturing is about design and creativity, as well as hands-on making of products,” said Mr Davies.
“It was extremely hard to choose one winner as the standard of entries I received was very high.
“However, I believe Danielle and Georgia have a great chance of going far in this competition. Their design for Pumpit, a hand operated kettle, is original as it’s powered by a simple flywheel and does not use any mains supply. I would be extremely interested to see how this could be turned into a working prototype.”