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QE’s first-ever in-house Model United Nations (MUN) Conference sparked powerful and passionate debate among the 48 delegates from Years 9 and 10.

Topics during the three-day, pupil-run event ranged from nuclear disarmament to the global economy, and from the conflict in Kashmir to the rights and wellbeing of indigenous communities.

The prestigious Best Delegation title went to the four boys representing India: Aahan Shah, Yashwant Sunkara, Abhinav Sandeep and Tunishq Mitra, all from Broughton’s Year 9 form.

The conference was planned and organised by Year 11 members of the School’s MUN Society – 12 volunteers, including Uday Dash, Koustuv Bhowmick, Saim Khan, Zaki Mustafa and Chanakya Seetharam acting as Secretaries-General.

Uday reports that the debates were “fiery, heated and fiercely contested”, fully showcasing the boys’ “thorough research, impeccable resolve, and eloquent arguments. It was an immensely enjoyable and thought-provoking three days, with lots of passionate debating, fruitful discussion and powerful speeches all around.”

Teams of four were drawn from the 12 forms in Years 9 and 10, with each allocated a powerful country to represent.

Two of the organisers, Uday and Saim Khan, opened the ceremony with introductory speeches.

Two days of contested arguments and resolutions followed, with each committee featuring its own battles. For example, Uday reported this about the proceedings of SOCHUM, the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Issues Committee: “From the delegate of Iran directly calling out the US for its own poor track record on indigenous rights, to the delegate of Australia decrying the alleged insurmountable financial burden it would place on nations to install separate healthcare systems for their indigenous communities, every delegate contributed to fiery, passionate debate.”

A resolution from SOCHUM relating to how the rights, cultures and wellbeing of indigenous people could be preserved was passed, earning the Indian delegation their title.

On the final day, the conference’s General Assembly was held in the Main Hall.

Some impromptu closing speeches from Uday and fellow Secretary-General Koustuv concluded what Uday called an “incredibly invigorating and successful conference”, before Physics Teacher & Academic Enrichment Tutor Gillian Deakin, who is QE’s MUN Coordinator, gave the final word to wrap up the event.

3D printing entrepreneur Arian Aghababaie, co-founder of California-based Holo, shared insights into the latest developments in additive manufacturing and gave advice on engineering careers when he led two inspirational events at QE during a visit to the UK.

After working for global software firm Autodesk, based in San Francisco, Arian (OE 1998–2003) raised venture capital and successfully spun out its additive manufacturing team to form Holo, while also transitioning its technology from the 3D printing of polymers to metals. Six-and-a-half years later, Holo is at the forefront of innovation, using its proprietary digital platform to enable the manufacturing at scale of high-performance parts across a range of materials, including metals, ceramics and composites. Holo is supported by top-tier Silicon Valley investors and strategic partners.

Arian’s morning at QE began with a tour of the School, before he led a Sixth Form additive manufacturing workshop, with five of QE’s own 3D printers on hand. Later, he delivered a lunchtime talk, giving his take on careers in engineering and 3D printing.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “Arian provided Year 12 with a workshop which firstly covered his professional journey to date, from his early days post PhD working on founding his own company (The Invention Works) through to his position as Senior Principal Engineer at Autodesk. Most of the workshop, however, focussed on his current company, Holo. He explained that he and the other co-founders could see the enormous potential to create a viable business in this area and so pursued it as an opportunity.”

Arian went on to explain the details around the scale of production, the materials used and the fidelity of the products which Holo’s machines can make through its own PureForm Technology.

“His technologies have a unique advantage over competitors, and he works with many major companies in the healthcare, consumer electronics, robotics, and automotive sectors, to name a few,” said Mr Noonan.

He even set the Year 12 boys a challenge to develop a product using QE’s own 3D printers. They should design (and perhaps build) a scaled-up, minimally invasive surgical instrument. His requirements were that:

• The instrument should have six degrees of freedom
• It should be able to be cable or gear-driven
• The boys’ work should include the design of at least two custom end-effectors (the devices at the end of a robotic arm, designed to interact with the environment)
• They should determine its size and features based on the capabilities of their own printers.

Bonus points were offered for the designs with the fewest components and if the end-effectors could be easily changed within the same clevis pin (part of a fastener system)!

Two examples of the boys’ work in response to the challenge are shown here.

In the lunchtime talk to Year 10, Arian took a more personal look at his story, beginning with his time at QE, when he was in Stapylton House and was a musician and prefect.

After first presenting a version of his life which had him gliding seamlessly from his first engineering degree at Bristol to gaining his doctorate, also at Bristol, moving to San Francisco in 2016 and then founding Holo the following year, he next spoke about “what it’s actually been like” – a narrative that includes leaving QE early, dropping out of university, the financial crash and the huge impact of Covid.

The lessons he learned included “stay true to your authentic self” and “don’t fear failure”.

The visit came about after Headmaster Neil Enright struck up a conversation with Arian on LinkedIn.

Mr Noonan said: “It really was a tremendous day. One of the boys involved said to me afterwards: ‘Sir, are you aware that Arian is working in the job we all dream to have one day?’ I am immensely grateful to Arian for taking the time to give back to his School and for giving our students something amazing to aspire to.”

Aadil Kara (OE 2010–2017), himself a veteran of an international space design competition, was one of the judges when QE hosted its own Galactic Challenge.

His QE contemporaries, Sam Bayney and Harikesan Baskaran, were also among those helping out on the day.

Competing in the challenge were two home teams and two visiting from The Henrietta Barnett School, which each formed a fictional aerospace company. They produced proposals for an Earth–Mars cycler settlement – a proposed future orbiting hotel which would ferry 1,000 people to and from Mars following a ‘cycler’ trajectory that regularly intersects the orbits of the two planets.

Galactic Challenge, which is for students aged 10-14, is the sister competition of the UK Space Design Competition (UKSDC), which is for those aged 15–18. Aadil has for several years supported both competitions and is a member of the UKSDC board. A Senior Analyst with the Cabinet Office, he graduated with a first in Physics from Imperial College London.

Aadil, Sam and Harikesan were all part of a QE Sixth Form team that won the regional heat of the UK’s Space Design Competition and went on to the 2017 national finals, where Aadil was selected to take part in the International Space Settlement Design Competition in Florida.

In addition to Aadil, the competition was judged by staff from the Space Science & Engineering Foundation, as well as QE Head of Physics Jonathan Brooke, and Dr Flore Faille, Head of Physics at HBS.

Mr Brooke said: “The boys presented with great skill and confidence.”

Once all the competition was done, however, final victory went to Columbus Aviation, one of the HBS teams.

Alan Solomon accompanied film producer Ilana Metzger to the School for the first-ever screening to under-18s of her documentary about her father, a Holocaust survivor who once attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

The film, Breathe Deeply My Son, was shown to Year 9, with a question-and-answer session afterwards.

Alan (OE 1951–1957) suggested the screening to the Headmaster after being impressed by the way it told the story of Ilana Metzger’s father, Henry Wermuth, and also looked more widely at the Holocaust and its origins.

In the film, Mr Wermuth, who died in 2020 at the age of 97, explains how in 1942 he broke out of Klaj ammunition camp in Poland when he learned that Hitler was scheduled to pass through the village. He piled the railway track with sticks and rocks, but the attempted derailment was unsuccessful. He told The Jewish Chronicle in 2013: “A train passed with three wagons, and in the window was a man who I recognised by the moustache as Hitler. I stood there mesmerised, waiting for the crash, but it never came. Either a local farmer or someone patrolling must have removed the logs.”

Mr Wermuth survived the war weighing just 5st 3lb (33kg). His father, mother and sister all died in concentration camps.

He was awarded a medal for his attempt by the German city of Frankfurt in 1995. After liberation, he settled in the UK and built a property business in London.

After her visit, Ilana, pictured here with her late father, wrote to the Headmaster, praising the boys’ “interesting and insightful questions”.

In fact, she was so impressed with their maturity that she is donating 30 copies of her father’s autobiography – gifted to her by an anonymous viewer of the film – to the School.

Headmaster Neil Enright has paid tribute to Old Elizabethan and former Vice-Chairman of Governors Ken Cooper, who served QE over several decades in senior roles. Ken died earlier this month, a few days after his 92^nd birthday.

“What an incredible servant of the School community! He distinguished himself first as a pupil, becoming School Captain in 1949, and subsequently in an illustrious professional career. We all have reason to be grateful that he then gave loyal service to our School throughout his long retirement, when he was variously president of the OE Association, a foundation trustee and a Vice-Chair of Governors at a period of rapid development and considerable change at QE.”

“There are few who have made such a broad and sustained contribution to Queen Elizabeth’s School,” said Mr Enright.

Ken arrived at QE in the depths of World War II and quickly made his mark. Excelling in his studies, Ken was equally successful as captain of the First XV. He starred in School plays and the Elizabethan Union owes its identity to him: Ken re-branded the debating society of his day to give it the name by which it is still known.

His Headmaster, the redoubtable Ernest Jenkins, was typically shrewd in his judgment of Ken in his School record card, yet also uncharacteristically fulsome in his praise: “An outstanding fellow…A fine School Captain, class forward, good actor and debater…who may go far.”

After graduating from New College, Oxford, he embarked on a career of public service, with senior posts in the Ministry of Labour, The Treasury and the Department of Employment. Later, he was: chief executive of the Employment Service Agency (1971-1975) and of the Training Services Agency (1975-1979); director general of the Building Employers Confederation (1979-1984) and chief executive of The British Library from 1984 until his retirement in 1991.

Ken, who continued to live in New Barnet, then deployed his talents in the service of QE’s Governing Body, Endowment Fund and the Old Elizabethans’ Association.

“He combined an ability to cut through issues and find a way forward with a warm and encouraging nature that made him an inspiring leader who contributed enormously to the health and strength of the School,” said Mr Enright.

Married to Olga, he had four children. Even in the immediate aftermath of Olga’s passing last year, he continued actively to support the School, keeping an appointment to visit QE so that he could be interviewed by a number of the boys.

Speaking at this week’s funeral for Ken, Mr Enright concluded his address with these words: “Ken was a pillar of our community as a pupil and again in his retirement. He will be fondly remembered and sorely missed. He was truly an Elizabethan for life.”