The second stage of this year’s NISP CONNECT INVENT 2014 competition is about to take place and among the Top 24 competitors is a bright young 16 year old inventor.
Gareth Reid is a Year 12 student at Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast but he is also the CEO of ‘Write to Read’, an award-winning App for people with dyslexia.
The technology photographs text and displays it on screen in a bespoke font. Gareth was also one of this year’s intake for NISP CONNECT’s Generation Innovation and is a brilliant example of the ‘Network of Ambition’ that is emerging from our schools and colleges.
Gareth is not alone. There are young teams across Northern Ireland developing technology to gladden the heart of those who have been in the game for a while longer. At Regent House Grammar School in Newtownards, a team of pupils has designed and built a scale F1 car.
‘Team Nero’ was successful at the F1 in Schools National Final in Birmingham and, if all goes to plan, will be representing Northern Ireland at the World Final at the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix in November 2014.
The young team’s passion and enthusiasm for motorsport innovation is not new to the province. We have a long established history when it comes to the industry, not least the long-bearded man on our Northern Bank £10 notes- John Boyd Dunlop.
John’s story is really quite remarkable. In 1887 his young son was prescribed cycling as a cure for a cold. John decided to make the tricycle more comfortable on the cobbled streets of Belfast by fitting it with inflatable tubes – and thus, the idea for the first pneumatic tyre was born.
Incidentally, the company which bore his name, Dunlop Rubber, which manufactured tyre products from 1889 to 1985, grew to be one of Britain’s largest industrial companies.
Our academics have played their part too. We have the late Professor Gordon P Blair, a previous Pro Vice Chancellor at Queen’s University Belfast. Gordon, a motorcycle enthusiast, was instrumental in motorsport engineering with Japanese giant, Yamaha.
In the 1970s he and a team from Queen’s University beat the works Yamaha team in the Ulster GP using a Yamaha 2-stroke engine. Yamaha in Japan soon forged an agreement with the team, a relationship that continued successfully for many years.
In more recent years, Queen’s University Ionic Liquid Laboratories (QUILL) have been supported by Malaysian oil and gas company, Petronas. Last year, QUILL collected awards for a new technology, which removes toxic mercury from natural gas.
It was developed in record time and is up to six times more efficient than current methods. The accolades included the prestigious Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Awards.
Another bright star in this field is Catagen.
Catagen’s patented aging technology is the result of 20 years of research and development into automotive catalysis at Queen’s University. The technology is based on the principle of maximising the efficiency of energy transfer and maximising recycling of both gas mixture and energy throughout the system, which has resulted in such significant improvements in overall energy usage and CO2 emissions.
So back to the students from Regent House Grammar School. Their achievement in the F1 in Schools Challenge is no mean feat. The competition involves more than 40 countries and thousands of budding young entrepreneurs, engineers and designers. If they win, the grand prize includes Automotive Engineering Scholarships for City University, London.
To get to Abu Dhabi the team from Newtownards needs to raise £25 000 for car materials, travel and accommodation. Perhaps Northern Ireland firms might be able to show their support for the young people and ensure our rich heritage of motorsports’ excellence continues? If you think you can help, take a look at their website: http://teamneroni.wix.com/2014.
Proof that our young people are the “driving” force when it comes to engineering and innovation.
