Female students crowned UK Young Engineer and UK Young Scientist of the Year

Release Date: 22 Jun 2023

For immediate release: 22 June 2023

FEMALE STUDENTS CROWNED UK YOUNG ENGINEER AND UK YOUNG SCIENTIST OF THE YEAR

Teenager from Colchester, England is UK Young Engineer of the Year 2023 with her InterSign smart device to improve communication with Deaf community
Teenager from Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland is UK Young Scientist of the Year 2023 with her environmentally friendly sunscreens creation
Girls wins top 2 awards in week of International Women in Engineering Day

Two girls have scooped the top awards in the prestigious national Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.

Ranita Ariyibi (15), a student at Colchester County High School for Girls (Essex), has been crowned UK Young Engineer of the Year 2023 for her creative invention of a smart device that enables hearing and Deaf people to communicate more easily.

InterSign acts as electronic interpreter between British Sign Language (BSL) and English, meaning it can see a sign then give the meaning in English – both spoken and written on screen. Similar to smart speakers like Alexa, it has the additional advantage of being able to take action. So, signing ‘help’ could trigger the device to call emergency services or a family member.

Kaycee Deery (15), a student at St Mary’s College (Derry-Londonderry), has been crowned UK Young Scientist of the Year 2023 for her creation of environmentally friendly sunscreen, designed to avoid harmful chemicals found in commercial suncreams which damage the environment.

Kaycee was inspired to create sunscreens based on natural ingredients after learning about potentially harmful chemicals in commercial sunscreens entering UK water systems. Washed away after swimming in the sea, pools and showering, these chemicals can harm and kill vital marine life and coral. Kaycee found a solution to this problem by creating several natural sunscreens with UVA protection ranging from SPF9 to SPF34, derived from naturally occurring oils.

Dr Hilary Leevers, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, which runs The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition, said:

“Huge congratulations to Ranita and Kaycee on their UK Young Engineer and UK Young Scientist of the Year awards. They both worked incredibly hard on their projects and really impressed our judges with their creative ideas, problem solving skills and passion for engineering and science.

We’re delighted to see so many girls have entered the competition this year – demonstrating that science and engineering really is accessible and interesting to everyone. Ranita and Kaycee undoubtedly have a very bright future ahead of them and we hope their achievements will inspire more young people, and especially girls, to develop a passion for science and engineering.”

Accepting her award, Ranita said:

“It’s absolutely crazy, I never imagined that I’d be here today. It’s been such a long process and I’m so grateful for this opportunity and to have won this award. I think having the showcase of all the competitors at The Big Bang Fair is really inspiring, seeing how young people can do amazing things.”

Accepting her award, Kaycee said:

“This is surreal. I don’t feel like I’ve done it, but I did! I decided to do this project to create a more sustainable, biodegradable and eco-friendly sunscreen. This award will help me continue and advance the project and hopefully, some day have an actual product to give people”.

Several other students were crowned winners at the awards ceremony at The Big Bang Fair today. This includes the winners of the junior, intermediate and senior Engineering and Science categories, as well as several special awards which are supported by industry.

To find out more and discover all the winners of The Big Bang Competition 2023 visit: www.thebigbang.org.uk/competition-winners

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Notes to Editors

Media contact: Georgie Brown ([email protected] / 07763 875174)

The winners are available for interviews - to arrange this please contact Georgie, via the details above.

Images available on request

About The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition and Fair

The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition aims to recognise and reward young people's achievements in all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and provide them with the opportunity to build their skills and confidence in project-based work. It is open to 11- to 19-year-olds from state-funded schools across the UK who have completed a project or activity in any field of science, technology, engineering or maths. The winners of The Competition will be announced at The Big Bang Fair on Thursday 22 June 2023. www.thebigbang.org.uk/competition

The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK. Taking place from 21 to 23 June 2023 at The NEC in Birmingham. The Big Bang Fair is an award-winning combination of inspirational talks, interactive workshops, hands-on exhibits and careers information from STEM professionals. The Big Bang Fair is made possible through the collaborative efforts of over 75 organisations.

The Big Bang Fair Unlocked is a chance for families, home educators and school groups to visit us from Wednesday 21 June from 4:30pm to 7:30pm. Register for free here: www.thebigbang.org.uk/fair

EngineeringUK is a not-for-profit organisation that works in partnership with the engineering community to inspire tomorrow’s engineers. We lead the engagement programmes: The Big Bang, Robotics Challenge and Energy Quest and help schools bring STEM to life through real-world engineering via Neon. We bring engineering careers inspiration and resources together through Tomorrow’s Engineers and manage The Code, which drives change at scale to increase the number and diversity of young people choosing academic and vocational pathways into engineering. We base everything we do on evidence and share our insight widely. www.engineeringuk.com

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Female students crowned UK Young Engineer and UK Young Scientist of the Year

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