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Old Elizabethans helped 50 boys battle it out in a Galactic Challenge at the School that saw all three teams secure multi-billion pound contracts for an imagined settlement in space.

The pupils from Years 7–9 (and from across tutor groups) formed aerospace ‘companies’ to participate in the space industry simulation challenge, competing against not only each other but also the clock. Their target was to design a space station for 100 years hence, when space travel might be commonplace. The remit was for a tourist resort that would orbit Mars.

Lending their expertise and experience on the day were four 2017 leavers: Aadil Kara, Neelesh Ravichandran and Harikesan Baskaran and Suchira Peiris. Aadil, Neelesh and Harikesan all got through to the national stages of the UK Space Design Competition (Galactic Challenge’s ‘big brother’ for older pupils) when they were in Year 13, with Aadil going on to reach international level.

Jonathan Brooke, Head of Physics, has been impressed by how the OEs have sustained their commitment to STEM outreach throughout their undergraduate studies and beyond: “It’s even more impressive to see this commitment continue as they move into challenging careers and post-graduate study,” he said.

“They were the driving force behind digital Galactic Challenge competitions that were a welcome diversion to our boys during lockdown, and it was an honour and a pleasure to welcome them back to the School to host an in-person competition.”

Mr Brooke was also thanked the Year 12 boys who helped on the day. “Without them, the event could not have run so smoothly.”

The challenge has two main objectives: to help foster pupils’ interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and to help them develop so-called ‘soft skills’, such as team-working, communication, and the ability to solve complex problems.

Aadil, who studied Physics at Imperial College London and now works as a data analyst for the Civil Service, said: “It was a joy to see the teams rise to the challenge, and to work productively in a way that rivals some professional teams!”

Harikesan, who is working towards a Master’s in Engineering for International Development at UCL, added: “The boys engaged within and outside their teams to produce some truly amazing designs. The fact that all teams won contracts is a testament to the quality of work produced across the board. Everyone really was a winner today!”

Neelesh now works as a technical analyst at Credit Suisse, having read Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London. He said: “A brilliant amalgamation of strategy, engineering, science and public speaking skills – the Galactic Challenge was a joy to help with.”

Suchira left QE to read Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, before securing a role as a consulting data analyst at the Information Lab. He said: “As a volunteer it was inspiring to see how engaged and active the students were in the competition, the out-of-the-box thinking, novel problem-solving and, in nearly every case, a board-worthy presentation!”

All four OEs commented on how much they had enjoyed being back at the School in person, observing that much had changed there in the past five years.

The three ‘companies’, Astrodyne Delta, Infinity Airspace and Solaris Flight Systems, were given a Request for Proposal (RFP) reflecting a typical design brief in the space engineering industry. They were asked to bid on a range of design modules: from the design of the command centre, to the power & energy generation, and the operations of the resort facility itself.

After trailing team Astrodyne Delta through the early stages of the competition, Solaris Flight Systems came through in the final stage to secure victory by the tightest of margins, winning contracts worth £320bn, against Astrodyne Delta’s £315bn. Infinity Airspace were not too far behind, on £300bn, with all three impressing the judges and securing contracts.

The judging panel comprised: Jenny Lyons, Director of Education at the Galactic Challenge; Alison Ahearn, Deputy Director of Education at the Galactic Challenge and Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London; Headmaster Neil Enright; Gillian Ridge, Head of Biology; Tamara Rakviashvili, Science Technician, and Science teachers Bryn Evans, and J Murphy.

The designs were assessed in three stages over the day. Stages 1 and 2 were presented during the day to peers and judges, while Stage 3 was presented at the end of the day to parents, peers and the judging panel.

Paarth Aggarwal is among just ten global winners of the Microsoft Imagine Junior Cup after dazzling judges with his AI-powered application to reduce food waste.

The competition, which challenged participants to submit creative ideas to solve some of the planet’s biggest issues using the power of artificial intelligence (AI), attracted thousands of entries from around the world.

Year 8 pupil Paarth was the only winner from the UK, with the judges praising the detailed analysis he provided of how ‘deep learning’ was leveraged in the design of his app.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate Paarth on this impressive achievement, especially as he was one of the younger entrants in a competition open to 13–18 year-olds. Whilst many of the other participants entered as teams, Paarth took part as an individual, making this success all the more remarkable.”

Paarth entered under the ‘team’ name Earthatarian and conceptualised an AI-powered app that would reduce food waste by predicting the actual expiry of stocked food items and monitoring food consumption. As required by the competition, he used Microsoft APIs. (Application programming interfaces [APIs] enable computer programs to communicate with each other.)

“I was exultant to win, especially as it was the first time I have entered such a competition,” he said.

He explained why he chose food waste as the issue he wanted to tackle.

“I was very annoyed – and intrigued – about food waste. Lots of the food we buy we never eat. In many countries, there are lots of people who don’t have much to eat, whilst we do in the West,” said Paarth. “The aim is all about efficiency. Food waste plagues the world – it is not talked about enough.”

His app-based solution to this problem was to utilise cameras and sensors in people’s fridges and rubbish bins to see how much they are wasting. The app would use machine-learning to tell people the actual expiry date of food – judging freshness to predict when it would be at a point that it would no longer be safe to eat.

“This is to tackle consumer confusion around ‘use by’ and ‘best before dates’,” added Paarth. “The app would also look at patterns of consumption and recommend recipes based on this. It could also calculate calories using Bing API [using Microsoft’s search engine technology] and then recommend what people should buy.”

The judges said that with “so many amazing projects” they had a difficult task on their hands picking the top ten. They chose winners from countries as far apart as Nepal, Australia and the USA.

As well as receiving a trophy and a certificate, Parth won a prize worth $300.

In addition to being impressed by the Earthatarian project as a whole, they specifically praised Paarth’s thoughtful approach in using an AI-powered application to predict the ‘actual expiry’ of stocked food items and monitor food consumption, the presentation of his entry (which included a ten-slide electronic presentation and a video), and the thoroughness of his research.

Paarth says he’s “a believer in AI” and can see its potential to help tackle major problems. He plans to enter this competition again next year and then get involved with similar initiatives when older (the Apple and Google equivalents being open to those aged 16 and over).

His next project is to work on Amazon’s AWS DeepRacer – a machine-learning model aiming to get round a track as fast as possible.

A visit to the huge HS2 development sites at Euston Station proved to be the prize for a team of Year 8 boys who recently won a prestigious design competition. 

When team Captain Snehal Das, Nafis Meah, Nayan Santheepan and Quaim Abdi won first prize in the I Can Engineering competition run by the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE), they were told it would involve a behind-the-scenes tour of a civil engineering project.  

In the event, their visit was to one of the UK’s biggest current civil engineering sites. Euston Station will be the London terminus for HS2 and will double the seat capacity for trains leaving Euston during peak hours. The plans include a ‘seamless’ connection between the Northern, Victoria, Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines at Euston. The project forms part of a regeneration scheme in central London spanning 60 acres. 

The boys were given a tour of the Mace, Dragodos and SCS Railways’ development site, where they were able to walk around and receive an insight into the scale of the project from a viewing deck. Presentations in the companies’ offices furnished useful information on both HS2 and details on what working in civil engineering can entail and possible routes into the sector. 

The boys also enjoyed the opportunity to chat to a range of engineering staff, who took time out to answer their questions about working on such a significant and vast project and their individual career paths. 

“The trip to HS2 was fascinating and gave me a very useful insight into the day-to-day life of a civil engineer,” said Snehal. “I also learned how they impact our lives everyday by improving transport networks throughout the UK.’  

Nafis added: “I found the trip extremely interesting, and I will consider being an engineer in the future.” 

The original competition required the boys to design a new London railway station linking the Isle of Dogs to the O2 Arena, with a strong renewable energy focus. Despite being among the youngest competitors, the QE beat 26 other entries from schools across the capital to take first prize.  

The boys impressed the ICE judges by including no less than four ways of reducing carbon emissions from their imagined West Ferry Station. Taking into account the new station’s location next to the River Thames, the boys included an underwater turbine to harvest hydro-electric power in their design. It also featured the use of kinetic power from customer footsteps, magnetic elevators, and bioluminescent bulbs. 

Kirsten Evans, Technology Assistant and the organiser of the I Can Engineering Club at the School, said the visit was a great way for the boys to understand the role of a civil engineer. “I hope it will inspire them to consider similar roles in the future,” she said.  

QE’s Year 8 and 9 VIQC robotics teams swept others before them in this year’s national finals to take top places at the end of the two-day competition in Telford.

The six junior teams also won a slew of the top awards, following in the footsteps of the senior VRC teams who had similarly taken awards in their competition over the previous two days.

Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “This represents QE’s strongest-ever performance at the VIQC Nationals, with only the Excellence Award eluding us. Overall, the success of both our VIQC and VRC teams in Telford was a welcome show of the students’ potential and of their focus, particularly as it came just a few days ahead of many of them travelling to Dallas, Texas, for the still greater challenges and excitement of this month’s Vex Robotics World Championships.”

Four teams – two from Year 10, one from Year 12 and one with a mix of boys from the two year groups – competed in the senior VRC bracket at Telford International Center. HYBRID, Vortex Invicta, HEX Green and Hyperion pitted their wits against the very finest robotic talent in the UK. The VRC championships drew 58 teams from all over the UK to battle it out in the competition’s Brunel and Lovelace divisions.

On the first day, QE teams had a record total of 14 games. “The pace was manic and it did mean the learning curve was steep, especially for HEX Green and Hyperion, who each had a sole representative on that day – Jamie Hoang, of Year 12 and Tharsan Nimalan, of Year 10. This was as a result of clashing A-level mock examinations ruling out their teammates,” said Mr Noonan. “Great credit is therefore due to Jamie and Tharsan, our ‘one-man armies’ of day one!

“The QE teams exploded out of the blocks on the second day, driven to make up for some poorer results on the first day. HEX Green and Hyperion had their ranks bolstered by the returning Year 12 students, and the increase in manpower was telling, as Hyperion secured a top-ten place finish, and HEX Green shot to the top of the skills rankings, a lead which they would never surrender.

“Hyperion reached the Brunel divisional finals, while an all-QE alliance of HEX Green and HYBRID made it to the Lovelace division semi-final, only to be cruelly denied a finals place by a loose battery connection. The day was not over for QE teams, however: when the medal winners were announced, Hyperion won the coveted Design Award (considered the second-most prestigious in the whole competition), HEX Green achieved double success, winning both the Skills and Think awards, and Vortex Invicta received a Judges Award. “Vortex Invicta’s first award of the season thus arrived at the highest level of competition they had so far faced!” Mr Noonan said.

“Overall, the experience was a great one of learning, particularly for the two middle-school [Year 10} teams who were looking forward to facing some 400 other teams in Dallas.”

Watching and cheering on from the tiered seating were QE’s six IQ robotics teams. “They drew many lessons from their older peers regarding showing resilience, reacting to failure and the importance of thorough preparation. Excitement reached fever pitch as students headed away to their hotel ahead of their own National championships on Sunday,” said Mr Noonan.

When the day dawned, the younger boys did not disappoint: “Our T5 robotics suite is the perfect furnace to forge success and achievement in competitive robotics, and the QE teams duly excelled, leading in almost all aspects of competition from the starting gun to the finishing post.

“All teams were in a frenzy of activity from Sunday morning to Monday evening; responding to judges’ enquiries, attempting to improve their skills, practising effective teamwork routines with partnering schools, and developing strategies to gain the extra edge ahead of the showpiece finals on the Monday.”

The achievements began with Gearsquad posting an early National Record Skills score. After strong QE performances in the Qualification and Skills elements of the competition, all eyes turned to the finals. The alliances (15 pairs from the 30 teams taken part) faced off in reverse order, from lowest to highest ranked,  and the ‘Chair of Champions’ was unveiled – a seat reserved for the (current) highest-ranked teams.

First up from QE was Cyberforce, followed by Nova, Shattersquad, Eclipse and finally The Rubber Bands. QE teams duly took their places on the chair, with a strong performance from Gearsquad and their alliance partners, Highgate, securing a near-perfect score.

“In the end, the six QE teams ranked first–sixth in the finals rankings, proving their ability to manage pressure at the highest level,” said Mr Noonan.

They also gained the following awards:

• Design, won by Cyberforce
• Amaze, won by Gearsquad and Shattersquad in their respective divisions
• Robot Skills and Teamwork National Champion, both won by Gearsquad
• Build, won by The Rubber Bands.

“A special mention must go to Shattersquad, Eclipse and Nova; Shattersquad secured their first two trophies of the season at this, the highest standard of event, while Nova and Eclipse came within millimetres of a national podium finish, despite Nova being out of competition for many months and Eclipse having a driver, Year 8’s Jaydon Lad, in a plaster cast.”

QE’s VIQC contingent were shortly afterwards due to compete against nearly 600 other teams in the World Championships.

A QE team’s design for a new London railway station with a strong renewable energy focus has won them first prize in a competition run by the Institution of Civil Engineers.

The four Year 8 boys included no fewer than four different ways of reducing carbon emissions in their design for the new station connecting the Isle of Dogs to the O2 Arena in Greenwich.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate these boys on a well-deserved success: they combined creativity with sound engineering instincts in their entry and came up with a design that clearly impressed the judges.”

Despite being among the younger competitors, team captain Snehal Das, along with Nafis Meah, Nayan Santheepan and Quaim Abdi, beat 26 other entries from schools across the capital to take the top prize in the I Can Engineer Awards, which were open to Years 8–10. Two other shortlisted QE teams also achieved success, with one picking up a further award and a third receiving a special commendation.

Taking advantage of the new station’s location next to the River Thames, the winning QE team included in their design an underwater turbine to harvest hydro-electric power. It also featured the use of kinetic power from customer footsteps, magnetic elevators, and bioluminescent bulbs. They called their design West Ferry Station.

Jonathan Baggs, Director of ICE London, said that West Ferry was “very creative in its approach to energy generation and how it is used to operate the station”.

The winners’ prize is a behind-the-scenes tour of a civil engineering project, courtesy of civil engineering sector companies, SCS Railways and TYPSA, who supported the award category. Other companies supporting the awards, which were organised by the ICE London Graduates and Students Committee, were Mott MacDonald and Ramboll.

After the event, Snehal said: “Being the team captain gave me many new skills which could help me in my future life.”

Ten teams were shortlisted for the awards, including the three from QE. One Year 9 team, Colin Copcea, Ishaan Ganatra, Krishna Patel, and Rian Dharel, received the Community Award for their design, entitled Cubitt Waterside. It drew inspiration from the recently completed tube station, Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. The special commendation went to a third team, drawn from Years 8 & 9 –Marvin To, Wilson Xu, and Zoheb Haq – who narrowly missed out on an award with their entry, Dockland Quay station.

Kirsten Evans, a Technology technician and the organiser of the I Can Engineering Club at the School, congratulated all the boys who participated. “The club has allowed all 20 students involved to develop a better understanding of civil engineering’s role in society.”

Miss Evans also thanked alumni who had supported the club by passing on their knowledge of civil engineering, including Karan Dewnani (OE 2006–2013).

The prizes were awarded in a ceremony at the ICE headquarters in Westminster – the first event for school pupils to be held there since the start of the pandemic.

In addition to the award presentations, there were team activities such as tower and bridge-building using spaghetti and marshmallows. The teams listened to a talk about HS2 from Fiona Hughes, a geotechnical engineer with Arup, and to an engineering ‘pitch’ from Julio Lacorzana, a Senior Engineer and Deputy Package Manager with TYPSA, who first spoke about his career journey.

Author, scientist and QE parent Dr Ananyo Bhattacharya gave a talk to senior pupils on his book about John von Neumann, the brilliant Hungarian-American polymath who made breakthroughs in fields ranging from nuclear energy to economics.

Dr Bhattacharya’s book, entitled The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann, was named a Financial Times and Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year in 2021.

His lunchtime talk to A-level Mathematics, Physics and Economics students explored how von Neumann’s advances in mathematics 70–80 years ago continue to inform the science of today.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are grateful to Dr Bhattacharya, as a QE parent, for coming in to School to share his expertise and to inspire our senior boys. It is great that we can draw upon different constituencies within the Elizabethan community, including parents and alumni, to enhance the educational experience offered here.”

Dr Bhattacharya, whose son, Callistus, is in Year 7, is a science writer who has worked for The Economist and Nature, the weekly multi-disciplinary scientific journal. Prior to that, he worked as a medical researcher at the Burnham Institute in San Diego. He has a degree in Physics from Oxford and a PhD, also in Physics, from Imperial College London.

The subject of his book, von Neumann, was born in 1903 to a wealthy Jewish family in Budapest. A child prodigy, he had published two major mathematical papers by the age of 19.

After an early career in German academia during the late 1920s, he took up an invitation to Princeton University in October 1929, becoming a naturalised citizen of the USA in 1937.

In a life of only 53 years – he died of cancer in February 1957 – he made major contributions in subjects including mathematics, physics, economics, computing and statistics.

During World War II, he worked on the Manhattan Project – the research and development that produced the first nuclear weapons – and after the war, he served on the General Advisory Committee of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

In his talk, Dr Bhattacharya mentioned the Manhattan Project as well as, inter alia, von Neumann’s contributions to set theory, game theory and the development of the first programmable digital computer.

Head of Library Services Jenni Blackford said: “Dr Bhattacharya delivered a friendly, accessible and vastly informative talk about the life and accomplishments of von Neumann.”