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Year 13’s Muhammad Shah has won The Big Bang UK Young Technologist of the Year title for 2025.

His winning project, Icarus, is a decentralised telecommunication system designed for low-cost and effective emergency communications in remote areas: it was inspired by his love of the outdoors and of trekking.

Muhammad was one of 11 QE pupils to reach the finals of The Big Bang Competition.

Mark Wood, Social Sustainability Lead at sponsor Siemens GB&I, said: “Muhammad stood out with his decentralised communication system, which avoids reliance on cellular or satellite networks and has great opportunities for search and rescue, leisure and other business uses.

“Muhammad demonstrated independent learning and great communication and presentation skills and is a worthy winner of the prize!”

The Big Bang Competition, run by the EngineeringUK charity,  is open to young people in the UK aged 11-18 who are in state-funded education, are home-educated or who enter as part of a community group.

The Big Bang UK Young Technologist of the Year award recognises innovation in digital and sustainable technology. It highlights the importance of technology in various sectors, including search and rescue, leisure, and business.

Muhammad describes himself as an aspiring engineer who enjoys 3D printing, CAD modelling, printed circuit board (PCB) design and other electronics.

His project was inspired by the communication difficulties people experience in remote areas, and particularly by the need for better communication when people out trekking get into difficulty. Its decentralised approach avoids reliance on cellular or satellite networks.

With Muhammad unable to attend the Big Bang Fair at Birmingham’s NEC because of an A-level examination, the prize was instead presented at the School’s Technology Design Showcase by EngineeringUK’s Director of Communications, Beth Elgood, and Siemens’ General Manager and UK Country Lead, Hannah Winstanley. The two also agreed to serve on the judging panel at the QE event.

Tech spec: how Muhammad solved the problem

Icarus uses a custom Meshtastic PCB based on ESP32-S3 N8R8, L76K GPS and LoRa RA-01SH, designed to be fully assembled by the online PCB service provider, JLCPCB.

Meshtastic is a decentralised, off-grid network that lets users send and receive messages using affordable, low-power devices. Icarus also makes use of LoRa, a long-range radio protocol, which is widely accessible in most regions without the need for additional licences or certifications (unlike HAM radio). These radios are designed to rebroadcast messages they receive, forming a network. This setup ensures that every group member, including those at the furthest distance, can receive messages.

Three Year 12 pupils successfully hosted what is believed to have been QE’s first-ever Medicine conference.

The one-day event gave pupils the chance to hear from leading doctors across a range of specialisms – several of whom are involved in medical research – and to talk to current medical students.

In 2024, a total of 38 QE leavers secured university places to read Medicine.

Featuring talks and networking opportunities, the conference, called MedConnect 2025, was organised by Soham Kale, Surya Senthilkumar and Sharvesh Sudhagar, with support from Head of Year 12 Akhil Gohil and other staff.

“We designed this networking event to give our future medics a deeper and wider understanding of what medicine and its specialties truly involve – beyond the textbook,” said Soham.

“This was achieved through a series of insightful talks delivered by some of the most inspiring doctors and medical students we could have asked for, followed by a vibrant networking session in our atrium.”

Among the guests was Old Elizabethan Dr Akash Gandhi (2005–2012), a GP and founder of TheUKCATPeople, which coaches young people to help them gain places at UK medical, dental and veterinary schools.

The other guests and speakers at the conference, which was based in the Friends’ Recital Hall, were:

• Dr Mark Kristiansen – Head of Genomics (UCL)
• Dr Giulio Anichini – Neurosurgeon (Imperial College London)
• Dr Thendral Murugesan – Consultant gastroenterologist (Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust)
• Dr Jayanta Banerjee – Neonatal consultant (St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust)
• Dr Arangan Kirubakaran – Neonatal registrar (St Mary’s Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust)
• Gayathri Giritharan – Third-year medical student (Imperial College London)
• Vanathi Pugalendhi – Third-year medical student (Imperial College London).

Soham added: “Organising and hosting this event was a huge learning experience. From coordinating speakers and logistics to dealing with last-moment changes under pressure, it has pushed me to grow as both a team-player and a communicator. It also reaffirmed my passion for Medicine – not just as a career, but as a field built on human connection and constant learning.”

He thanked the speakers and the QE staff who supported the trio behind the conference, especially Mr Gohil: “His unwavering support and guidance made this entire event possible. Throughout this process, you constantly challenged us to reflect, question and develop – helping us grow not only in our leadership but also as people.”

Year 9 pupils did more than just learn about the experiences of World War I soldiers during their battlefields trip, they lived a little of them, too.

During their visit to Ypres and the Somme, the 44 boys took time to call at Talbot House, where soldiers relaxed away from the front lines during the conflict.

History & Politics teacher John Haswell said: “They drank tea, played chess and croquet, and sang at the piano, just as the soldiers would have done during the war.”

Throughout Year 9, pupils had been studying the changing nature of warfare in the 20th century, beginning with a study of World War I.

“The trip was our attempt to offer students a chance to deepen their understanding of the conflict, the experience of soldiers, the scale of the tragedy, and to witness how the war has been remembered and memorialised,” said Mr Haswell.

Forty-eight Old Elizabethans were killed during the 1914–1918 conflict, among them Acting Captain Allastair McReady-Diarmid (OE 1897–1904), who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in leading the attack on the Cambrai front in which he was killed.

The trip began with visits to war cemeteries in Ypres and to Talbot House. They finished the day at the Menin Gate for the Last Post Ceremony, which has been held nightly since 1928 – “a stirring experience,” said Mr Haswell.

After that, the group went to the Somme, where they were joined by military historian Andrew Robertshaw, who has worked as the historical adviser on films such as War Horse and 1917.

“He took us to various places along the Somme’s front line to help us understand the battle and visualise what happened at these sites during the war. A particular highlight was seeing one boy, Azmal Hadgie, dressed in his full soldier gear, where he began to appreciate just how much these soldiers had to carry!”

The trip finished in Ypres town with a final museum visit and a visit to Belgium’s finest chocolate shop. “The difficulty there was preventing them from melting in the sweltering heat!,” said Mr Haswell.

“Overall, it was a fantastic trip. The weather was kind to us, even if the much-delayed ferry trip home was not. I hope the boys took a lot from the experience and developed their understanding of World War I.”

Sixth-former Harik Sodhi took a silver medal and was the highest-ranked performer from western Europe at the 55th International Physics Olympiad in Paris.

Harik is not only the first-ever QE pupil to receive a silver medal at the IPhO, but is also thought to be the best-performing UK student in the competition since 2010. He came 49th out of 420 competitors from 89 countries.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are all extremely proud of Harik: simply to reach the IPhO is a tremendous achievement, so to go on and make QE history by taking silver in Paris is really quite remarkable!”

Although entrants compete as individuals, they are placed in national teams. Harik was part of a five-strong UK team, all of whom won medals. Three took bronze, while one, Ojas Tiwari, a pupil at St Olave’s Grammar School in Kent, was another silver winner, albeit with a lower score and ranking than Harik’s. Medals were awarded to the top 208 competitors.

Harik, who has been offered a place to read Engineering Science at Christ Church, Oxford, said: “This achievement would not have been possible without the support, mentorship, and encouragement of many people along the way — I’m deeply grateful to everyone who helped me reach this point.

“I would also like to congratulate my fellow competitors on all getting medals, which is a tremendous achievement at such a prestigious competition!”

His points total of 29.3 comprised 21.0 points from the theory section of the competition and 8.3 from the experimental problems section.

During the seven days of the IPhO, visits to the Chateau de Versailles and the Orsay Museum and a cruise on the Seine were organised for competitors.

To reach the IPhO, Harik progressed through three rounds of the British Physics Olympiad. He was selected for the UK team from among 14 high-fliers after putting in a strong performance at a selection camp in Oxford. He subsequently was invited along to a final training camp with his UK teammates at Trinity College, Cambridge.

The BPhO was founded in 1979 and it is believed that QE first started giving boys the opportunity to take part in the competition in around 2005. Over the intervening years, a handful of QE boys have reached the national team.

In 2013, Mahdi Elango was a bronze medal-winner at the International Physics Olympiad in Copenhagen. The following year, Aniruddh Raghu took bronze at the IPhO in Astana, Kazakhstan. And in 2015, Robert Swan also won bronze, at the IPhO in Mumbai, India.

Every pupil and all members of staff enjoyed the opportunity to get out and about during this year’s Flourish Festival.

The summer festival, part of QE’s Flourish co-curricular programme, offers boys a range of enriching trips away from the Queen’s Road campus.

It is designed to make the most of QE’s position on the suburban fringe of London – close to surrounding rural counties, yet also within easy reach of the capital’s world-leading attractions.

Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter said: “We want boys to take time out from the classroom and relax a little at the end of the academic year, while also enabling them to learn something new – whether that’s about the venue they visit, or about their own strengths and abilities.”

Flourish Festival days out this year included: Year 7 at Whipsnade Zoo; Verulamium Roman Museum in St Albans (Year 8); and the Science Museum (Year 9).

The Headmaster, Neil Enright, went with half of Year 8, as they visited the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. “Like all QE boys, they were terrific company and it was a joy to be with them,” he said.

Year 10 learned about the Cold War as they visited Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker, near Brentwood, Essex, which was built in 1952–1953 and decommissioned in 1992.

Physical exercise was to the fore as Year 7 enjoyed letting off steam on a charity sponsored walk in the local countryside and Year 12 went on a hike in the Chilterns.

Year 9 looked to the skies on a visit to RAF Hendon, while Shakespeare took centre-stage when Year 12 went to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre and Year 10 to watch Romeo and Juliet at the Globe.

Head of English Robert Hyland: “Our now annual trips to the Globe make the Flourish festival one of my favourite weeks of the year. It may have all the trappings of a 17th-century playhouse, but plays are still being explored in very modern ways.”

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