Young Engineer of Great Britain

Aseem Mishra, a year 13 pupil at Hymers College, was crowned winner of the Young Engineer of Great Britain Competition (Senior Age Group), which took place at the 2011 Big Bang Fair from 10th to 13th March in London.

His winning design was a pair of jeans which double as a drum kit! Wearers tap out the rhythm of their favourite tunes on their thighs and it sounds just like they are playing the drums.

The jeans can be connected to headphones for personal use, or to loudspeakers in a backpack. Eight paper-thin sensors, each activating a different drum simulation, are stitched into the jeans and these are linked to electronics circuitry in the backpack, which processes the signals to produce the sound of drums.

Aseem collected £1000 (£900 for himself and £100 for the school), plus a unique trophy made by Rex Garrod of 'Robot Wars' fame.

Last year, Aseem won the Junior title at the same competition with his 'light-up drums'. He is now to go on to represent the UK at the Intel Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles in May.

At the same competition, Emily Bentley, a year 12 pupil at Hymers College, scooped three awards - the Intermediate National Science and Technology Award, the Shell Prize for Design Innovation and the Young Engineer Product Development and Marketability Award.  Her design of a teddy bear alarm which triggers a melody if a child strays too far from the parents, was designed with her younger brother in mind.  Emily also managed to win £2000 in prize money.

There were over 3000 visitors to the exhibition and the competitors had to explain their designs to judges and visitors over a 3 day period.