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Year 12’s Technology students saw for themselves how start-up Batch.Works is using 3D printing as a true manufacturing technology by focusing on specialist design techniques and by automating its array of printers.

They learned how the company is pioneering a truly sustainable approach by recycling already-recycled materials to produce the plastic filament used by the printers.

And the 17-strong group had the chance to present their own design projects to Batch.Works’s Chief Industrial Designer, Liam Hwang.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “This visit provided the Year 12 cohort with unique and exciting insights into a company that is at the leading edge of sustainable design and manufacture, using heavily recycled materials to help its customers reduce their carbon footprint, and thus making the circular economy a reality.”

Now operating out of London Fields, Hackney, and from Amsterdam (and with plans to open a base in Rotterdam soon), Batch.Works was founded by designer Milo Mcloughlin-Greening and digital fabrication specialist Julien Vaissieres.

It first made waves in its sector during the pandemic when producing PPE for East London hospitals from its then-home in Bethnal Green.

Recently awarded an innovation grant of £1.8m to create a network of manufacturing hubs that will use local recycled materials, Batch.Works is now investigating ‘urban mining’, the notion of turning waste streams into new products. It launched an equity crowdfunding campaign in September.

“Our students were absolutely thrilled to be told about the history, current works and future plans for the company by Dean Pankhurst, Design Co-ordinator at Batch Works,” said Mr Noonan.

“The company engages in specialist design for 3D printing, using the skills of industrial designers and project managers to enable a faster design-to-print lead time than most companies. Liam spoke about optimisation in design – how they alter designs to use ‘vase design’ principles so that no unnecessary bodies are created. As a result, unlike in other companies, at Batch.Works 3D printing can be used as a manufacturing technique, rather than only for making prototypes.

“Most impressive of all was that the company have themselves closed the loop of all the PLA filament they use, using recycling techniques on already recycled plastic: they are proud to use only 100% recycled materials in their work.”

During a tour, the boys first visited the company’s co-working room, where they saw technologies, collaborative techniques and methodologies similar to those which they use in their own product design work.

“Next, they were shown into the wildly impressive plant room by Dean and Liam,” said Mr Noonan. “The room contained 40 3D printers, some of which could print items as large as 1 metre square. Many of these were stacked on server cabinets, and the designers had impressively ‘hacked’ the G code [the most commonly used 3D-printing programming language] which drives the printers to turn them into automated 3D printing machines that could work around the clock. This means the rate at which the designers can prototype and manufacture is unrivalled.”

The boys were given an overview of the company’s projects and clients, from commercial giants such as M&S, to smaller medical companies and furniture businesses seeking sustainable design solutions. They were able to peruse prototypes that Batch.Works had created, including medical devices, personal hygiene products and headphones.

“It was at this point that the students began to ready themselves for their own presentations, as Liam had kindly agreed to take in the students’ presentations on their own recent vacuum cleaner projects. These, in fact, utilised many of the prototyping techniques with which he was familiar from his own studies in Product Design at the RCA and Central St Martins.”

Each pupil had five minutes to present, followed by two or three minutes of questions and direct feedback from Liam on their designs.

During the presentations, all other students were linked into a scoresheet via MS Teams and could score their peers using a system of comparative assessment. Liam and Mr Noonan had casting votes.  “Aniththan Kugathasan, Kiaron Lad and Aadish Praveen were crowned champions, earning a hearty round of applause for their superb presentation and an especially well-finished prototype.”

Liam told Mr Noonan: “The skills these students have in terms of presentation and CAD certification is very impressive – much closer to what we see from interns and graduates than from A-level students.”

In its first edition of the academic year, the Econobethan celebrates four remarkable Black women – an astronaut, economist, businesswoman and MP – while also looking at the legacy of slavery in the US.

The special section devoted to Black History Month is followed by articles on Economics – including a look at the economic impact of AI – and Politics – where pupils express some forthright views on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recent easing of green commitments.

The Econobethan is a pupil-run magazine from the Economics department. This fifteenth edition is the swansong for Year 13 editors Aditya Kute, Nishanth Bhasuru, Aston Daniel and Avinash Srivastava.

Economics teacher Celia Wallace said: “My thanks go to Aditya and his team for a strong edition and an excellent year.”

In their introductory editors’ note, the four-strong team write: “A topic that remains a staple within our publication is the contribution of people of colour to economics. Therefore, in commemoration of the 36th Black History Month, we have allocated a dedicated section to enhance comprehension of black history as a whole.”

In the first article, entitled Black History Month 2023 — Saluting Our Sisters, Aditya profiles three women:

• Jessica Watkins, who in April 2022 became the first Black woman to complete a long-term mission on the International Space Station
• Rosalind Brewer, who was appointed as CEO of US pharmacy store chain Walgreens in March 2021, thus becoming only the third Black woman ever to lead a Fortune 500 company on a non-interim basis
• Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, who entered politics after a high-flying career in the technology and telecommunications sector.

Nishanth’s article on Sadie T M Alexander, a pioneering 20^th-century African American economist and civil rights activist, is followed by Aston’s exploration of How Slavery’s Economic Echo Shapes America Today and Avinash’s look at contemporary Black economist William Darity.

The Economics section featured Year 13 pupil Soumil Sahjpall’s consideration of cryptocurrencies and whether they are being manipulated. He urged that investors should exercise caution and diversify their portfolios, stating that “whether in cryptocurrencies or traditional investments, the game is the same…The house may not always win, but it possesses significant advantages.”

The section featured two articles on AI – Year 12 boy Akheel Kale’s exploration of whether it will reshape the labour market, and Zaki Mustafa and his fellow Year 12 pupil Uday Dash’s examination of the economic impacts of adopting AI.

Akheel also delved into Economics theory, along with Year 12 pupil Shreyaas Sandeep. Shreyaas explored Game Theory and the Nash Equilibrium, while Akheel’s topic was Neuroeconomics: Better than Behavioural Economics? Tejas Banal, of Year 12, asked Are the High Wages for Top-Tier Sportspeople Justified?

In the Politics section – described by the editors as “robust” – Saim Khan, of Year 12,  thought through the question Would Democracies be Better Off Without Political Parties? and concluded with a resounding negative.

The final three articles all had environmental matters in mind. Shyam Jayabal, of Year 13, asked whether the Bank of England’s remit should be updated to address climate change challenges. Saim had the Prime Minister in his sights with his piece entitled Rishi’s Reckless Reversal on Green Commitments. And Year 12’s Dheeraj Karnati homed in on a specific item of Government policy – the recent delaying of the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030 to 2035 – with his piece, An In-Depth Analysis of the UK’s Trade Policies in the EV [Electric Vehicle] Market, in which he outlined the “worrying” situation in which “the Government unintentionally forced domestic car manufacturers to essentially subsidise their Chinese competitors whilst these competitors turn their attention to the UK and flood the market with their cheaper cars”.

Boys on a Sixth-Form theatre trip explored one of the seminal moments in modern Indian history – the 1948 assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

Twenty-two Year 12 boys and their teachers went on the History department trip to the National Theatre to see The Father and the Assassin.

It tells the story of Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse, who went from being a loyal follower of Gandhi and his non-violent methods to becoming his killer.

History teacher John Haswell said: “The play explores the conflicting narratives and complex desires of those involved in India’s struggle for freedom, and how Gandhi’s vision of an integrated nation of Hindus and Muslims clashed with the vision of others, including that of his assassin, who saw Gandhi’s integrationist ideals as a betrayal to his Hindu nationalist vision of a free India.

“For some of our students, the characters and individuals on stage were familiar through their own engagement with Indian history. Indeed, for some, the play was a portrayal of a more personal history, as family members may have experienced both the fight for independence and the horrors of partition.”

Regardless of their background, the visit enhanced all the boys’ understanding of Indian independence, showing how competing visions of a post-colonial India clashed, Mr Haswell added. They also appreciated the unique power of theatre to bring such ideas to life.

“The play also echoes beyond India, and speaks to conflicts elsewhere in the world where seemingly irreconcilable world-views collide.”

Written by Indian playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar, The Father and the Assassin premiered at the National last year. It completes its second run there this month.

After the visit, the boys, all A-level History students, gave their reactions. Joel Kidangan Justine said: “This was my first time to the theatre, and I’m amazed by how well they are able to capture the story of Indian independence in such a clever and interesting way.”

Kyshaan Ravikumar described the play as “an enticing reimagination of the struggle for Indian independence”, while Vaibhav Gaddi praised “a captivating story that sheds light on the story of Nathuram Vinayak Godse”.

Year 9’s Kelvin Chen will see his work displayed on billboards in London ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) starting next month after achieving success in a national art competition.

His colourful depiction of young people taking action to create a greener planet – entitled Friends of the Earth – took third place in the Climate Art Prize contest organised by Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute.

As well as the billboard display and £250 in cash, Kelvin’s prize will include seeing his piece alongside a mural in Nine Elms, close to the newly revamped Battersea Power station, that will also include the institute’s 9 things you can do about climate change.

Head of Art Craig Wheatley said: “My congratulations go to Kelvin, who followed the suggestion of my colleague, Jeanne Nicodemus, to enter and was then one of only nine winners and runners-up out of more than 1,000 entries.”

For the biennial competition, the institute, which is a research centre for climate change and the environment, challenged entrants aged 11-25 to create bold designs for outdoor public murals focused on the solutions needed to tackle the climate crisis.

For inspiration, they could look to the institute’s Climate Action Hub’s suggestions for positive actions everyone can take to reduce their impact on the planet, including reducing energy use and bills, green travel, protecting nature and eating less meat and dairy. Young people were asked to interpret these themes and focus on at least one of them when depicting their visions of a greener, cleaner, cooler future world.

The winning entries in each category will become public murals across the UK – in Glasgow, Coventry and West Norwood in London – painted by professional artists.

In his submission, Kelvin, whose third place was in the 11–14 age category, said that his piece of art has “a deep meaning behind it symbolising the actions of many people who have a passion for protecting and nurturing the planet.

“Some of the actions are shown in this drawing,” he wrote. “The left person is painting the world green, showing afforestation and protecting the world’s green spaces; the person in the middle, placing some wind turbines into the Earth, a form of renewable energy; and the person on the right is taking some of the rubbish thrown into the ocean out of the Earth’s waters.”

Speaking about his motivation to participate in the competition, Kelvin said: “I have a passion for tackling climate change and my drawing aims to inspire people to act. I think the environment should be a higher priority for the government, but there are also things we can all do to help the world.

“I’m also always up for a competition. I was excited when I received the email to say I had been chosen in third place.”

Kelvin is pictured receiving a prize at July’s QE Junior Awards ceremony from guest of honour Sunil Tailor (OE 1999–2006). As for the £250 prize money… “I’ve given it to my parents” he said.

Former Afghan refugee Waheed Arian told Year 9 boys the remarkable story of his life, from arriving near-penniless in the UK aged 15 to becoming a doctor and the leader of medical charities that support both refugees in the UK and patients in conflict zones around the world.

Over the past 24 years, he has studied at Cambridge, Imperial and Harvard, qualified as a doctor, been recognised as a World Health Organisation digital health expert and won numerous awards.

Dr Arian recounted his astonishing life and career in his lecture – yet he concluded by instead focusing on the importance of community and of giving back.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are very grateful to Dr Arian for coming in to talk to Year 9.  His lecture was inspirational and it very much chimed with our mission to produce responsible young men who seek to change their world for the better.”

The assembly was led by Chris Butler, Head of Geography, who said: “His story is an important one: not only did Dr Arian highlight the need to be resilient and have ambition; he also outlined the importance of being kind to one another in our everyday lives and the strength that lies in community action and collaboration – values that the School holds dear. The refugee situation across Europe is increasingly becoming politicised, and it is important that QE boys have the opportunity to listen to those who have experienced life as a refugee and wish to re-tell their experience of the process.”

Dr Arian started his talk by outlining his own early years as a child fleeing from war. He was separated from his father and told Year 9 how he, his mother and his sisters would often cross Afghanistan to see his father in clandestine visits, explaining that this was necessary as his father had fled the army after being pressed into conscription.

Later, Dr Arian and his family fled to Pakistan to be together, with a journey that saw them having to avoid air strikes from Soviet forces who had mistaken the refugee column for Mujahideen rebels. Whilst safe in Pakistan, they were living in unimaginable poverty inside refugee camps and informal housing blocks. For most of the time they lived ten to a room, without basic sanitation or access to education. He largely taught himself, from textbooks bought from street-sellers, and learned English from the BBC World Service.

Reflecting on these experiences during the lecture, he emphasised the importance of compassion and empathy, revealing how it was often only the kindness of fellow refugees that allowed him and his family to get by. One example was when a local volunteer doctor treated his bout of tuberculosis – it was then that he determined to devote his life to healing others.

Arian’s family returned to Kabul following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, but when the ensuing civil war intensified a decade later, his parents, wanting him to have better prospects in life, sent him to the UK.

The focus of the next portion of the talk was hope: alone, in a foreign country, and with just £60 – his parents’ meagre savings – in his pocket, he could have easily given up in despair at the dire hand life had dealt him. Yet instead he persevered. Working through anxiety and PTSD, he supported himself by taking jobs in shops and – disregarding the advice of those who suggested he set his sights on becoming a taxi driver – going to night school. After taking his A-levels, he was accepted into Trinity Hall, Cambridge, later finishing his clinical studies at Imperial.

He impressed upon the Year 9s the value of always holding on to hope, even in the toughest of times, explaining how his dream of becoming a doctor fuelled him during his studies, which culminated in him eventually getting a scholarship at Harvard Medical School. He now works as a Accident and Emergency doctor in North West England.

In the last part of the talk, Dr Arian focused on the importance of giving back to the community. He highlighted how his own experiences shaped his desire to start the charity, Arian Teleheal, in 2015. It links doctors in conflict zones such as Afghanistan with colleagues in the UK, helping to ensure that people living there can have a decent standard of healthcare, not least so that disease does not hold them back in their lives.

Dr Arian has risen to become one of the most influential medics in the NHS. In addition to working as an NHS doctor and running Arian Teleheal, in 2020 he also founded Arian Wellbeing, which aims to link psychologists, licensed therapists, personal trainers and nutritionists to offer unique, personalised holistic care for refugee trauma and PTSD patients.

He discussed his work with the two charities and took questions from the boys, declaring himself later to have been impressed with their eloquence and their understanding of the migration process.

Dr Arian was introduced to the Year 9 audience in the Friends’ Recital Hall by Saim Khan, a Year 12 geographer, who said afterwards: “It was an inspiring and insightful talk, and one which created much food for thought.”

After two-and-a-half years of hard work, patience and perseverance, an electric car built by QE’s first Greenpower team overcame both mechanical challenges and terrible weather to perform strongly against much more experienced competitors in its first race.

Having gathered information at the Dunsfold Park track in Surrey early in September, the Year 11 team travelled to Castle Combe in Wiltshire for their first competitive outing.

A mechanical failure in the first race threatened to scupper their efforts, but the pit crew overcame the odds to get the car – called New Horizon – ready for the starting grid just a couple of minutes before the start of the second, and final, F24 race of the day.

Congratulating the team, Head of Digital Teaching and Learning Michael Noonan said: “Torrential rain was abundant, and while many other cars either could not hold the track, or simply retired, our team stuck to their task: in the second race, they finished a highly respectable 44^th out of 79 competitors – a feat all the more impressive given that they carried out an extra driver swap to give all our students a chance to drive.”

The event was one of a series of races run by the Greenpower Education Trust, a UK-based charity which aims to get young people enthusiastic about science and engineering.

The boys planned, built and refined the car using a Greenpower kit. Having promoted the car themselves, they won sponsorship from Horizon Builders, a North London construction, decorating and property maintenance company.

“Using the experience gained at Dunsfold Park, home to the BBC’s Top Gear, the students spent many late evenings (including a few quick runs  around the School site) testing braking, circuitry, and speed,” said Mr Noonan.

Castle Combe is some 115 miles (186km) from the School, so the 12 team members had a 5.15am Sunday morning start on the day of the event. “They arrived in Wiltshire expecting a small crowd, given the early hour, but were instead greeted by the awesome sight of a total of 79 F24 (age 12–16) and 24 F24+ (age 16–24) teams in full flight with their preparations for the race day ahead. The sheer challenge which Greenpower would entail suddenly dawned on both staff and students!”

The boys duly threw themselves into preparing for the rigorous scrutineering process. “Following some adjustments to the braking system, and with the absolute minimum amount of time left, the team passed all tests, with only small notes on adjustments required for future races.

“From here, it was on to their first practice session – in some cases, students’ first experience of driving this car. The car, number 241 on the day, seemed to be performing admirably and was operating without fault. Each driver managed his session without any major issues, although it quickly because apparent that conditions were to worsen over the day, and that our performance would have to be adjusted to account for the wet weather.

“Following minor tweaks in the ‘paddock’, which had all the necessary tools and equipment, the first sets of drivers for the first race took to the grid. As the track lights signalled the commencement of the race, our relatively inexperienced team seemed to be punching above their weight; the last-minute aerodynamic and cooling adjustments provided for smooth racing.”

“It was at the point of driver change that a minor mechanical noise was noticed, and an inspection took place. With no obvious issue evident, the new driver took over and upon his first acceleration he managed to delink the chain! What had happened was that vibrations across the rear axle had loosened grub screws. With this looseness, the axle was ‘coasting’ left to right (which would slow the drive down enormously), and when our second driver took his seat and hit the throttle, the chain lodged against the chain guard at the link point and immediately disconnected!”

“The team was faced with disaster,” said Mr Noonan. “Having only covered 9.25 kilometres in their first race, they had to bow out just before the halfway point and immediately go about repairing the damage caused.”

With only two hours between races, the team had to strip back all mechanical items and re-assemble them to produce a working car. “Through sheer grit, determination and thanks in no small part to the kindness of other teams who happily supplied spare parts, New Horizon was race-ready with around two minutes to spare.”

Buoyed by their success in reaching the tight deadline, the boys set about trying to better their first race score and duly achieved this, ending the day with a score of 22.59. (Greenpower F24 race results are determined by a formula based on furthest distance travelled within the 90-minute time period, taking the better figure from the two races.)

Afterwards, team members reflected on the day. Adithya Raghuraman said the team had been “nervous from anticipation leading up to the day”, but that it had proved a “memorable” experience. “Even the journey to the track was incredible, despite it being brutally early in the morning. Getting to meet and collaborate with other schools, scavenge for parts from fellow teams, and enthusiastically wait for our car to come around near our pit each lap, were all valuable chances to learn, compete, and most importantly, enjoy.”

His fellow teammate, Daksh Vinnakota, and Year 10 apprentice Keeyan Shah were both also thrilled with the experience: it had been “a good opportunity to finally demonstrate our work over the past two years in a competitive situation,” said Daksh, with Keeyan adding that the day had provided “a unique insight into professional racing”.

Although after the start of the 2023 Autumn Term , the Castle Combe races were in fact the final regional round in the 2022–2023 Greenpower season. The QE team are now handing over to Year 10 boys, who were their apprentices in the 2022-23 season, and will be mentoring and supporting them throughout the rest of the new season.

“As the season unfolds, the 2023–24 Greenpower team will be looking for around four willing Greenpower apprentices from Year 9 to join the cause and ‘upskill’ with a view to competing in Year 10,” said Mr Noonan.

“This year’s team are already plotting a climb up the national leaderboard, which if they are fortuitous, will result in their participation at the Goodwood World Finals in October 2024.”

He added that the outgoing team had thanked their sponsors and the staff involved  – Science teacher Timothy Panis and Technology assistant Felix Chillingworth, as well as himself  – “for their support in finally seeing the Queen Elizabeth’s Greenpower team make their presence felt”.

Team members 2022–2023 season (current Year 11)
Soham Kale
Siddarth Oruganti
Rudra Patel
Adithya Raghuraman
Kavin Rameshshanker
Siraj Sidhu
Vinujan Sivakumar
Binaga Solangaarachchi
Ishanth Thangella
Daksh Vinnakota
Ethan Dias
Danyl Malchyk

Apprentices 2022–2023 season (current Year 10)
Taha Sebbar
Keeyan Shah
Dev Malde
Balaram Kataria
Yuvraj Patel
Ayush Saha
Parv Gandhi
Shashank Devaguptapu
Akshaj Vyas