Pupils Navigate a Bumpy Road to Seagate Young Innovators

Twenty-five more primary schools have secured places at Seagate Young Innovators by winning top slots in their local Education & Library Board heats of the ’Primary School Technology Challenge’ - a major part of Seagate Young Innovators.

The primary schools will join 25 other finalists in the ’Junior Engineers for Britain’ section at Seagate Young Innovators on Tuesday, 12 June in Belfast’s Odyssey Arena. In addition to the primary school activity, hundreds of secondary schools enter projects to compete on the day for prizes and awards under the ’Young Engineers for Britain’ and ’Northern Ireland Young Scientist’ categories. This combined exhibition of young people’s achievements is the largest of its kind in the UK and is an educational flagship event for both Sentinus, the UK’s largest provider of business education programmes, and Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX), the worldwide leader in storage solutions.

At the heat stage, teams of three pupils were set the task of designing and building a model vehicle that could carry an egg safely down a ramp and over a speed bump at the bottom of an incline. Teams secured extra points if the egg was secure - a tough requirement given that masking tape, glue and blu tack were not allowed to be used to hold the egg in position. Teams also had to cope with the added pressures of completing the task within an hour and producing a solution that placed them in the top five, allowing progression to the final.

John Spangler, vice president at Seagate’s Springtown facility, said Seagate was delighted to be helping the next generation of young innovators get excited - and competitive - about science, engineering and technology.

“We recognize the importance of encouraging new talent into our sector and believe that enthusiasm for these subjects starts in the classroom, at an early age,” said Spangler. “Seagate Young Innovators connects young people with science and technology in an exciting and enjoyable way and nurtures their natural desire to innovate. We’re more than happy to be providing support for this initiative.”

Looking forward to a day filled with bright ideas, Brian Campbell, chief executive at Sentinus, said; “Seagate Young Innovators provides a platform to showcase how good the young people of Northern Ireland really are. It demonstrates how students across the primary and secondary sectors, can produce really innovative and groundbreaking projects. This is the event’s tenth year and we are now seeing many past participants graduate from university with qualifications in the fields of science, technology, mathematics and engineering, ready to make a real and serious contribution to the economy of Northern Ireland plc.”

The schools that will be making their way to the final at Seagate Young Innovators are listed below.

Belfast Education & Library Board Finalists:
Strand Primary School, East Belfast
Currie Primary School, North Belfast
St Peter’s Primary School, West Belfast
Holy Rosary Primary School, South Belfast
Orangefield Primary School, South East Belfast
North Eastern Education & Library Board Finalists:
Broughshane Primary, Ballymena
Earlview Primary, Newtownabbey
Glenravel Primary, Martinstown
St Colum’s Primary, Portstewart
St John’s Primary, Carnlough
South Eastern Education & Library Board Finalists:
Abbey Primary School, Newtownards
Glencraig Primary School, Holywood
Lisburn Central Primary School
Meadow Bridge Primary School, Hillsborough
St Patrick’s Primary School, Ballynahinch
Southern Education & Library Board Finalists:
St Joseph’s Convent Primary School, Newry
St Malachy’s Primary School, Glencull, Dungannon
Donacloney Primary School, Craigavon
The Armstrong Primary School, Armagh
Mullaghglass Primary School, Bessbrook, Newry
Western Education & Library Board Finalists:
Edwards Primary School, Castlederg
Donemana Primary School, Dunamanagh, Strabane
Ebrington Primary School, Londonderry
Longtower Primary School, Londonderry
St Mary’s Primary School, Mullymesker, Enniskillen