Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Astro presents KM Bright Sparks overall winners Simon Langton Girls Grammar School with experience award.
Astro is delighted to present the 6th form students from Simon Langton Girls Grammar School with an experience award as they take overall winner at this year’s KM Bright Sparks awards.
Astro MD Steve Hodges took to the stage at the KM Bright Spark awards last week as part of a panel of “Dragons” to put youngsters through their paces as they presented their projects in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) to the team of industry experts.
Nine teams of young students from all over Kent presented their ideas in the final with projects that ranged from solutions to challenges of mental health, through to intergalactic planetary exploration. As long as the project was STEM related they were able to be entered and the final presentation and videos were delivered to an audience of parents, teachers, competitors and sponsors, as well as the “Dragons”, at Discovery Science Park in Sandwich, Kent.
“I was genuinely taken back by the professionalism, knowledge and confidence in these young people as they presented their ideas to a foreboding team of Dragons. While I understood that the awards were for ‘Bright Sparks’ these were genuinely bright young people with extremely good ideas. They all communicated effectively, concisely and managed to articulate their ideas amazingly well. As most people know I am not easily impressed but I have nothing but admiration and respect for the finalists of these awards.” Commented Steve Hodges.
The winning team were presented with a cheque for £500.00 by the hosts KM Charity Team and each finalist also received an experience award. The winner’s conducted and incredible study into the effects of being in nature on mental wellbeing and blood pressure. Their study was far reaching and inclusive and took into account many factors and variables. They approached the problem scientifically and methodically and drew some fascinating conclusions.
Hodges went on to say “What impresses me most about these awards is that it put the competitors in a situation whereby they not only have to have an idea and test it and provide evidence regarding their findings, but they also have to find a way to communicate and position this in front of a large group of people as well as the judges. These presentation skills are not regularly taught in our education system. I interview dozens of people every year who are probably very good but lack the presence, confidence and communication skills to put that across. KM Bright Sparks forces the entrants to have both the ideas and develop the skills to showcase them”.
Each judge provided an experience day as part of the overall prizes ranging from cash for further idea development through to laboratory equipment to further test and analyse theories. The winning team was awarded the Astro experience prize which is a day at the offices of London & Partners at Tower Bridge to look at technology in action and to see how modern office environments use technology to ensure the health and well-being of their staff. Supporting the work that they undertook in their research.
“I was particularly impressed with the real-world application that the team from Simon Langton Girls Grammar School demonstrated in their presentation and the extensive and detail analysis they undertook. They also gave up their free time to take on the work. Their presentation skills were superb and there was a real team feel to their submission. I was, however, also impressed with the research undertaken by Zurafa Sakel into the effect of classical music on the short-term memory. As a keen NLP practitioner who has personal experience of dementia sufferers I was intrigued by where this research might go. As a result I chose to extend my experience prize to both the Biodiversity Team and Zurafa, and I am very much looking forward to meeting up with them all again and having a trip into London to see technology in action.” Hodges concluded.
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- The Dragons. The Bright Spark Awards. School pitch their ideas in a Dragons Den style challenge at Discovery Park, Sandwich. Picture: Martin Apps FM4841068
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- Overall winners Simon Langton Grammar School for Girls for their project, Does Biodiversity make us happy. The Bright Spark Awards. School pitch their ideas in a Dragons Den style challenge at Discovery Park, Sandwich. Picture: Martin Apps FM4841028
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- The Bright Spark Awards. School pitch their ideas in a Dragons Den style challenge at Discovery Park, Sandwich. Picture: Martin Apps FM4841144
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For further information, please contact:
Astro – Steve Smith, steve.smith@astro.co.uk or Steve Hodges steve.hodges@astro.co.uk on +44 (0)203 058 7770
Notes to editors
KM Bright Sparks Awards
The KM Bright Spark Awards are staged to help make science cool. Students are encouraged to collaborate using cross-curricular skills in maths, IT, science and engineering to innovate and create. For more information:
http://www.kmcharityteam.co.uk/schools/brightspark/
Discovery Park
Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent is a global leader for science and enterprise with world class laboratory and exceptional office space. The site has a track record for drug discovery stretching back to the 1950’s and continues to lead the way in R&D from the search for new antibiotics to pioneering research across the life sciences; from developing new therapeutics and diagnostics to unlocking the full potential of immunotherapy and immuno-oncology.