A trio of Britain's brightest youngsters have scooped top honours in science and engineering at the 2012 National Science & Engineering Competition.
Two Cardiff teenagers were voted Young Engineers of the Year for creating a portable device to monitor when mothers are about to go into labour. A third teenager from West Kirby carried off the title of UK Young Scientist of the Year for pioneering work to target specific cancer cells.
The trio, all aged 17, were chosen from a line up of among 360 talented youngsters all with potentially world-beating ideas.
They were singled out by a panel of world-class judges which included Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Sir Tim Hunt, and the Science Museum's inventor in residence Mark Champkins.
Wasim Miah and Jessica Jones, from St David's College, Cardiff, South Wales, were named Young Engineers of the Year. The pair impressed with a mechanical and electrical device called the Contraction Optical Monitoring System, which measures foetal contraction intensity. It provides mothers-to-be with a simple indication of when they are about to go into labour, avoiding the traditional mad dash to hospital.
"This is such a massive honour. It feels so strange and I can't believe that we've actually won," a jubilant Jessica said. "The competition was so fierce. I can't believe I'm the first girl to win the UK Young Engineer of the Year, it makes the achievement all the more amazing."
Co-winner Wasim added: "This is absolutely brilliant but we're both still shell shocked. We didn't even tell anyone that we'd entered the competition because we didn't think we would be nominated. We thought we would get some useful contacts to help develop the project so to win is an amazing bonus."
Kirtana Vallabhaneni said she was overwhelmed at being crowned UK Young Scientist of the Year. She has been involved in groundbreaking work helping to identify the harmful cells that cause pancreatic cancer. The aim of the project is to isolate cells in the pancreas that can be targeted with chemotherapy rather than subjecting the whole body to the treatment.
"Everything that I've worked for over the last year has come together. I'm so happy," she said.
The finals took place at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair, the country's largest celebration of science and engineering for young people, at The NEC, Birmingham, and prizes were awarded by Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts.
Two Cardiff teenagers were voted Young Engineers of the Year for creating a portable device to monitor when mothers are about to go into labour. A third teenager from West Kirby carried off the title of UK Young Scientist of the Year for pioneering work to target specific cancer cells.
The trio, all aged 17, were chosen from a line up of among 360 talented youngsters all with potentially world-beating ideas.
They were singled out by a panel of world-class judges which included Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Sir Tim Hunt, and the Science Museum's inventor in residence Mark Champkins.
Wasim Miah and Jessica Jones, from St David's College, Cardiff, South Wales, were named Young Engineers of the Year. The pair impressed with a mechanical and electrical device called the Contraction Optical Monitoring System, which measures foetal contraction intensity. It provides mothers-to-be with a simple indication of when they are about to go into labour, avoiding the traditional mad dash to hospital.
"This is such a massive honour. It feels so strange and I can't believe that we've actually won," a jubilant Jessica said. "The competition was so fierce. I can't believe I'm the first girl to win the UK Young Engineer of the Year, it makes the achievement all the more amazing."
Co-winner Wasim added: "This is absolutely brilliant but we're both still shell shocked. We didn't even tell anyone that we'd entered the competition because we didn't think we would be nominated. We thought we would get some useful contacts to help develop the project so to win is an amazing bonus."
Kirtana Vallabhaneni said she was overwhelmed at being crowned UK Young Scientist of the Year. She has been involved in groundbreaking work helping to identify the harmful cells that cause pancreatic cancer. The aim of the project is to isolate cells in the pancreas that can be targeted with chemotherapy rather than subjecting the whole body to the treatment.
"Everything that I've worked for over the last year has come together. I'm so happy," she said.
The finals took place at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair, the country's largest celebration of science and engineering for young people, at The NEC, Birmingham, and prizes were awarded by Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts.
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