News Sara Awarded Arkwright Engineering Scholarship 07.10.2021

Congratulations to Lower Sixth student Sara whose prototype small-scale wind turbine saw her awarded an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship.

An Arkwright Engineering Scholarship is the most esteemed scholarship of its type in the UK, designed to inspire students to pursue their dreams and change the world as a future leader in engineering. The Scholarships are awarded to hard-working sixteen-year-old students through a rigorous selection process, supporting them through their A Levels, Scottish Highers or equivalent qualifications.

Sara had this to say on her project:

‘I decided to apply for an Arkwright Scholarship to further my passion for engineering, since the scholarship provides invaluable opportunities including mentoring and funding to assist aspiring engineers. This year’s application process was a bit different due to the pandemic but we still had to present a project to a panel that was then assessed. I went forward with a conceptual prototype of a small-scale wind turbine that could be hung. The main advantage this system presented was that blade movement was not restricted to a particular axis, so it could be located in a wider variety of places. The prototype was highly improvised since it was made mostly during the lockdown from my bedroom. These additional constraints made the project really interesting to work on and taught me some valuable design lessons too.

I would highly recommend anyone with an interest in solving problems and making things to apply for an Arkwright Scholarship. If you enjoy working on engineering projects you may also wish to join the school’s technology + design thinking or robotics club. Thank you to my teachers for all of the support!’

Congratulations on your fantastic achievement, Sara!