• Bicester pupils score top marks at national STEM event

    960 640 Stuart O'Brien

    Students at The Cooper School in Bicester beat over 80,000 students at last month’s annual Big Bang Fair to win a license to a STEM technology platform called SOLIDWORKS.

    Students were asked to use a range of instruments to clear two water tanks from plastic debris in the quickest time.

    The Cooper School’s team narrowly beat the Montsaye Academy, Rothwell, with a time of 17.3 seconds.

    Dassault Systèmes designed the competition to encourage pupils to consider the variety of careers available in STEM, and how those careers can help inspire positive and sustainable global change.

    It was based around a project with teenager Boyan Slat, where a Dassault Systèmes technology called X-Flow was used to develop a mesh for the Ocean Cleanup Project.

    Dassault Systèmes started working with Boyan when he was a 16-year old with a dream of ridding the world’s oceans of plastic pollution. 

    John Kitchingham, EuroNorth Managing Director, Dassault Systèmes said: “It has never been so important for us to encourage the next generation to undertake STEM related subjects in both school and university, as they are workforce of the future,”

    “We were overwhelmed with the amount of tech savvy pupils and students who visited the Big Bang Fair this year, and proud of all participating teams who explored the possibilities of STEM activities using our tools. Of course, the biggest congratulations must go to the students at The Cooper School, who we look forward to introducing to our SOLIDWORKS platform.”

    SOLIDWORKS is a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) and engineering program developed by Dassault Systèmes, and is used by 6 million engineers and designers across the globe.

    It has been adopted by schools and educational institutions across the world, including the University of Leeds, who are using the software to prepare students for careers in design and manufacturing industries – see the video here.

    AUTHOR

    Stuart O'Brien

    All stories by: Stuart O'Brien

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published.