The Big Bang Competition 2023 winners
It's time to crown our winners! The Big Bang Competition judges were so impressed this year by all the creativity, innovation and ingenuity shown by all the young people who entered The Competition.
We want to extend a huge THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who took part, and encourage everyone to enter again for The Big Bang Competition 2023. You're all amazing!
Meet our winners:
Overall winners
UK Young Engineer of the Year 2023
Ranita Ariyibi, a student from Colchester County High School for Girls, has been crowned as the UK Young Engineer of the Year for her project InterSign.
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.
UK Young Scientist of the Year 2023
Kaycee Deery, a student from St Mary's College, Derry-Londonderry, has won the title of UK Young Scientist of the Year with her project Natural sunscreen preparations.
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.
Core prize winners
Senior engineering category
Ashwin Sridhar a student from Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet, has won the senior engineering category in the finals of The Competition, for their project titled ‘Retromate: Smart Device for the Elderly’.
Congratulations to the runners-up:
- Samuel Price, Tomie Omaradil, Waruna Jayathilake, Nora Toth-Pal, Heather Donald, Beau Rawbone and Joseph Prosser from Bishop Gore School for their project 'Enabling the Hydrogen Economy'
- Samuel Amos-Osebeyo from Reading School for his project 'House Helping Robot'
- Rhys Wijeratne from Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern for his project 'Columbus'
Senior science category
Ryan Parry, a student at Liverpool Life Sciences UTC won the senior science category for his project 'Viruses - The Next Phage of Antibiotics?'
Congratulations to the runners-up:
- Ellie Kovachky from Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School for her project 'Brown dwarfs within binary systems'
- Esha Dongare from Kendrick School for her project 'Analysing Universe's structural growth'
- Hyunjo Kim and Ryan Lin from Reading School supported by Radley College for their project 'Quantum Keys'
Intermediate engineering category
Muhammad Shah, a student from Queen Elizabeth's School, Barnet, has won the intermediate engineering category for his project titled ‘Working from home: NEA Exercise solution'
Congratulations to the runners-up:
- Gianna Tsui, Alley Ho and Wing Hei Cheung from Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School for their project 'Stair-Climbing Wheelchair For Dogs'
- Joseph Kennedy from St Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School for his project 'Checkwave'
- Suleymaan Khan from WMG Academy for Young Engineers for his project 'Butler Robot To Help The Elderly'
Intermediate science category
Nikita Morrison, and Becca Connolly from St Mary's College, Derry-Londonderry awarded the winner’s prize in the intermediate science category for their poject 'The effect of different pH on hydrogels'
Congratulations to the runners-up:
- Freya Burnett, Manreet Shergill, Aliza Tanveer and Serena Rangel Browne from Derby Moor Spencer Academy for their project 'Helping with early stages of Dementia'
- Jada-Lisa Eguavoen from Invicta Grammar School for her project 'Do spices affect plant growth?'
- Ella Watson, Anabelle Cox, Kayra Hutchinson and Isabelle Assor from Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School for their project 'Making hydrogen fuel from scrap metal'
Junior engineering category
Rishan Sharma a student from Cambourne Village College has won the junior engineering category for his project titled 'Blind Vision'
Congratulations to the runners-up:
- Aaron Cameron, Charlie Bauld, Cooper Pierce, Ellis McAra, Harry MacMillan and Murray Callan from Lesmahagow High School for their project 'Off the Grid'
- Esther Chikere, Emily Brown, Lindsay McCall, Szymon Janus and Miah Howieson from St Aidan's High School for their project 'Healthy Minds - Calmify'
- Dayzie Simpson from St Bartholomew's School for her project 'The Cane Tip Invention'
Junior science category
Adam Symes, a student from Corbridge Middle School, has won the junior science category for his project titled ‘Which bird food is the most popular?’.
Congratulations to the runners-up:
- Alexander Taylor from Caroline Chisholm School for his project 'Stomp Rocket'
- Sofia Hobden and Srinika Muttineni from Invicta Grammar School for their project 'Does music effect video game players?'
- Aaryan Prabhaker from Queen Elizabeth's School for his project 'Can we eat our way to a healthier planet?'
Special award winners
Place at 64th London International Youth Science Forum 2021
Awarded to Gurdit Singh from Featherstone High School for his project ResQDrone
The Energy Institute Climate Change Award
Awarded to Ella Watson, Anabelle Cox, Kayra Hutchinson and Isabelle Assor from Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School with their project 'Making hydrogen fuel from scrap metal'
The Intellectual Property Office Award for outstanding innovator
Awarded to Finley Stirk, Arya Bhattacharya, Shenglun Hutton and Joseph Birch from King's College London Maths School for their project 'AutoMate: The chess board for everyone'
The Network Rail Innovation in Transport Award
Awarded to Suleymaan Khan from WMG Academy for Young Engineers (Solihull).for their project Butler Robot To Help The Elderly
The Royal Air Force Teamwork Award
Awarded to Sam Main, Grace Davy, Maya Stedman, Freya Venables, Phoebe Starr, Josh Wyatt, Ben Gaunt, Marcel Pala and Lee Howard from Alleyne's Academy for their project Team Ropey!
The Siemens Smart Technologies Environmental Award
Awarded to Niall Manson, Ashton Mui and Callum Bailie from Ballymena Academy for their project 'A.R.K.'
The Special Award for Practical Science
Awarded to Duncan Bloor-Young from Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School
The Stantec Developing Future Communities Award
Awarded to Precious Okeowo from Mayfield Grammar School, Gravesend for her project BIO-clean H20