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Home | New Generations | 4 March 2011 - 92 local-school youngsters take part in Rotary Technology Tournament

Fri Mar 4th 2011

Rtn Pat Armstrong with boys and girls from John Colet School.

Ninety two youngsters from local schools came together for a Technology Tournament organised by the Rotary Clubs of Chesham, Amersham and Great Missenden on Friday March 4th at Cestreham Campus of Amersham & Wycombe College, Lycrome Road, Chesham.
 
Teams of four had to make a model crane that would duck under a low bridge, then lift a canister, supposedly containing a dangerous chemical, get it back under the bridge and put it down, all controlled from a distance. The task required an electric motor with pulleys forming a reduction gear.
 
The Chief Judge was Ray Payne, who is Head of Logistics for the Olympic Project.  This project is coming to an end, and he is now engaged in decommissioning nuclear power stations.  By a happy coincidence, one of his problems is to design a crane that will lift 750 tonnes.
 
There were some very original designs, and although no teams managed the whole task, everyone enjoyed the day, and achieved some success.  They all received a Certificate of participation, which can be useful on a C.V.
 
The best solutions in each category were:

Advanced:  Princes Risborough School, with Zoe Stratford, Alex Culverwell, Glen Thorpe, and Rowen McClean

Intermediate:  Beaconsfield High School, with Fay Rota, Georgina MacDougall, Anna Heslop and Abigail Badrick.

Basic:  Beaconsfield High School, with Jessica Page, Lois Graham, Sian Drury and Nadia Jarvis.
 
Ray concluded the event by showing how some of their devices represented the four main types of cranes used in the real world.

Rotary International District Governor Amanda Watkin said “The technology tournaments are excellent, young people showing their ability to work together and solve a problem using their combined knowledge and skills”