Young Inventors Competition launched
A national competition aiming to inspire British school children to pursue careers in science and engineering has been launched in a partnership between the highly successful 1001 Inventions and Mosaic. The Young Inventors Competition for Schools 2010 will be an opportunity for British youngsters to offer creative solutions to everyday problems and will run during Spring/Summer 2010.
More than a hundred schools have already agreed to participate, and it is hoped that more than a thousand British schools will be involved in the inaugural year of the competition. Participants will be encouraged to submit entries in three different categories, and both primary and secondary schools will be participating.
Manchester University's Prof. Salim Al-Hassani is a mechanical engineer and Chairman of the Judging Panel. He explained: "It is vital for the future success of our country that we continue to inspire generations of scientists and inventors. It's important for young people to realise that science and engineering can be a creative outlet as much as the arts. And that, even in this age of complex computers and high-tech gadgets, it is possible to be an inventor and make a difference to other people's quality of life."
He continued: "We've created three categories, and each category is linked to a particular role model from the history of science in the Middle Ages. The idea is that we demonstrate that it is possible to be an inventor even with access to rudimentary knowledge. The only limit is your imagination. This competition might not uncover a world-changing invention, but we hope it will be the inspiration behind a world-changing inventor of the future."
Commenting on the competition launch, John O'Brien, Managing Director of Mosaic said: "Mosaic works to create opportunities for young people and to improve understanding between communities. We are delighted to be partnering with 1001 Inventions on this competition as a way to raise young people's understanding of the fabulous contribution of the Muslim world to modern-day science and engineering. We hope that the competition will inspire the students we support to follow in the illustrious footsteps of those celebrated by 1001 Inventions, drawing support from the many successful engineers and scientists within British Muslim communities today who support Mosaic's work."
To enter the competition
Teachers can download an entry form and submit their school's best entries online to the competition's judging panel. The Young Inventors Competition for Schools will run from 29th March until 4th June 2010. The competition was created by the 1001 Inventions initiative, which is a global educational project that is currently exhibiting at the Science Museum in London. Further information about the competition is available at www.younginventors.co.uk
For more information
1001 Inventions: Junaid Bhatti on +44 7980 586 243 / junaid@1001inventions.com
Mosaic: Saad Awan, Campaigns Manager on +44 (0)20 7566 8669 / saad.awan@bitc.org.uk