- Kell Johnston has been awarded one of the top prizes in The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.
- Over 200 young people submitted projects to The Big Bang Competition and the awards were announced at Big Bang Digital: Redefine the future
Kell Johnston, a Year 12 student from Queen Elizabeth High School in Hexham, Northumberland was awarded GSK UK Young Scientist of the Year for his project, ‘Does Willow Extract Have Beneficial Impact When Rooting Cuttings?’ He wanted to see if willow water could be used as an effective method to grow plants as well as being an environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic products.
Kell wins £2,000 to continue on his STEM journey. Congratulations Kell!
Core Science Prizes
More prizes were awarded to some brilliant young people. They include:
James Barber, a Year 8 student from St Faith’s School, Cambridge won the junior science category in the finals of The Competition. His project titled ‘An Investigation into the Anti-Microbial Properties of Different Mouthwashes’ looked at growing microbes from a blue cheese vein and testing which of his family member’s mouthwash was the best at killing microbes.
Alex Lockyer, a Year 10 student from Brentwood School, Essex won the intermediate science category in the finals of The Competition. For his project titled ‘Can A Computer Software Programme Alleviate the Symptoms Of OCD?’ Alex created a 6-week brain training programme that helps people with OCD to overcome their fears.
Clara Norenberg, a Year 13 student from Oxford High School GDST, Oxford has been awarded the winner’s prize in the senior science category in the finals of The Competition. Her project titled ‘Producing a super-absorbent polymer based on chitosan’ project was an experiment to develop an affordable hydrogel, which could be added to soil to help plants, particularly in dry conditions to retain as much moisture as possible.
All the core winners receive a cash prize of £750 to continue on their STEM journey, a trophy and certificate.
Big Bang winners have gone on to do lots of wonderful things including, getting backing from businesses for their projects, setting up their own businesses, taking part in conference presentations to industry professionals as well as appearing on the television and radio shows to talk about their projects.