A TEAM of three students from Ashburton’s Atrium Studio School has been named National Champions at Shell’s Bright Ideas Challenge, beating off competition from hundreds of schools from around the country.

Year nine students Manu Kay, Torin Coulson and Marlon Moss-Motto have won £5,000 to boost the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) teaching at their school.

Their ‘bright idea’ was a way to capture the hydropower of household taps and store the energy for use in powering anything from personal devices to cars.

They travelled to Imperial College London last week, where they built a prototype of their idea and competed against 12 other regional finalists.

Team member Marlon Moss-Motto said: ‘Seeing our idea come to life and being named National Champions is a totally unforgettable moment for us!

‘We had so much fun going to London to build our prototype and meet all the other teams. It’s also been exciting to for us to use science and technology to solve a real world problem, and see how being creative with science and engineering can really help make a difference.’

The Bright Ideas Challenge asked young people aged 11 to 14 to use their STEM knowledge and problem solving skills to imagine innovative solutions for making future cities clean, efficient, vibrant places to live, work and play.

By 2070 it’s estimated there’ll be around 10 billion people on the planet, with demand for energy set to double. This means the world needs to find new ways to produce more energy.

The 12 other finalists’ ideas included an energy capturing car coating, inspired by the naturally occurring chemical reactions within the Oriental Hornet bee, and windows which capture solar power.

Marcus-Alexander Neil, of Shell UK, said: ‘It’s a real thrill to see the ingenuity the students have brought to their competition entries. As the next generation of scientists, mathematicians and engineers they’re able to look at things from a fresh perspective.’

Sam Westaway, teacher at Atrium Studio School, said: ‘Using STEM knowledge to solve a real-world problem opened our students’ eyes to how their lessons can be applied in a real-world context.

‘Competitions like The Bright Ideas Challenge really help our students think big about what’s possible. Our school is so proud of the team.’