Congratulations to two Lower Sixth students who have been awarded a prestigious Arkwright Scholarship. Adhiraiyan Sasikumar and Semiloore Bankole both studied Design Technology (DT) at GCSE and further developed their NEA (non-exam assessment) projects to submit as part of their Arkwright application.
Adhi will be sponsored for the year by AWE and Semiloore by the RAF. They will each have a mentor and receive £300 to put towards developing another engineering project of their choice, which they plan to do together and utilise for a joint Extended Project Qualification.
Semiloore said, “My project (extract above) was designing a product to keep personal belongings safe while travelling on public transport, which I thought is relevant to all our students who travel to school that way. I 3D-printed the bulk of the product, using an RFID-blocking fabric I’d researched, to add extra protection against identity theft, and utilised the laser cutter in DT. I really enjoyed testing different materials for durability and assembling everything for the final product was so satisfying.”
Adhi said, “My project (extract above) was part of the same design challenge – protection of personal items. I looked at a container that you can anchor to a fixed point in many situations such as at the beach. I focused on the fastening mechanism that has the flexibility to be fixed to multiple points. I really enjoyed the 3D printing and laser cutting element of the project and for the Arkwright application added electronics to my existing project to add a level of complexity.
“Managing time for the Arkwright Scholarship application was challenging, as it was around the time of mock exams and was very time-consuming, but I also really enjoyed the aptitude test and had researched lots of mechanisms in preparation.”
Semiloore agrees, “The aptitude test is like nothing else you do, it’s a design challenge and you must come up with solutions based on your knowledge. It’s very detailed but is a creative process and was really enjoyable. The application process was also useful practice for university applications.
“Mr Currigan was so helpful during the process, and organised meetings with previous Arkwright applicants and scholars whose advice was brilliant.”
Adhi says, “If you are interested in engineering or STEM, I would 100% recommend applying for an Arkwright Scholarship, it does take a lot of work but is a great opportunity and experience.”
Both students have always loved DT and the workshop was one of the reasons Adhi came to Trinity. They are planning to study engineering at university, with Semiloore (also a member of the CCF and having enjoyed various flights) set on Aerospace Engineering.
Mr Currigan, Head of Design Technology, said, “We’re thrilled that Adhi and Semiloore have been awarded a scholarship: a recognition of the hard work they put into their applications. I look forward to seeing their engineering project develop over the next 12 months. Well done to Lower Sixth students Isaac Proud and Andrew Ah-Weng who also submitted brilliant presentations but missed out on the scholarship this time.”
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