by Nicola Forman

A team of engineers from Highsted Grammar School have come away victorious from the Big Bang South East regional finals.

They will now go to the Big Bang in Manchester next spring to represent the region as they take on the best schools in the country.

The four Year 12 students competed against schools from all over the south east and won the Best Engineering Key Stage Five Project contest.

They had been working closely on the project for eight months with Knauf Drywall as part of the Engineering Educational Scheme.

The team consisted of Keri Louise Grane, Nikki Myers, Abi Nelson and Rosie Theobald . They worked with Knauf Drywall’s Chris Parish.

Knauf Drywall had set the engineering team the task of coming up with a solution to clean the shear blade on the plasterboard production line.
After spending many hours on meetings, workshops and individual work, Highsted created their solution.

At the regional competition, they prepared a stand with their working prototype and a display of their progress.

The most difficult part was being assessed by the judges, who asked challenging questions and were quick to test any weaknesses.

The prize was money for the school and a gift token for each of the team members.

By winning the regional competition they gained the invitation to compete in the national Big Bang competition, which will take place next March in Manchester.

It will give the girls another opportunity to gain serious experience ahead of the careers of engineering and science which they all hope to succeed in after completing education at Highsted.