John Hampden Grammar School students reach science finals after exciting project caught judges eye

The Year 13 pupils from the Marlow Hill school will now take their place in this year’s The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.

The team made up of Kailo Bouskila and Philip Bourhill has been announced as one of the winners of the online heats at The Big Bang Fair, with the project from the group titled ‘Calculating the Centre of Gravity of an Ejector Seat’.

For this project, Bucks-based Martin-Baker, a company which specialises in producing ejector seats for aircraft, tasked the students to find a method of determining the centre of gravity of their ejector seats in three dimensions.

Dr Hilary Leevers, chief executive, EngineeringUK said: “The team from John Hampden Grammar School really impressed the judges with their project and we’re excited to see how they do at the UK finals.

“It is a huge achievement to progress to this stage of the competition and Kailo and Philip should be incredibly proud to take up their place and compete at The Big Bang Fair in March 2020.

“Going into its twelfth year in 2020, The Big Bang Fair continues to be a great source of STEM inspiration for young people, providing an amazing opportunity for young visitors, their teachers and parents to get hands-on with a wide range of activities, workshops and shows, and engage in meaningful career conversations with professionals, all designed to bring classroom learning to life and inspire the next generation.”

Kailo and Philip will be invited to attend the competition finals, which are taking place at The Big Bang Fair at Birmingham’s NEC in March 2020.

There, they will vie for top prizes including the coveted title of GSK UK Young Engineer and GSK UK Young Scientist of the Year.

The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK.