Students Scoop Up Awards at The Big Bang Competition
Three students from Kent have scooped awards in The Big Bang Competition, a nationwide competition for young engineers, scientists and technologists, with more coming close as runners-up.
Alice Morrish, a year 10 student from Invicta Grammar School in Maidstone, has been crowned UK Young Scientist of the Year for their project ‘Quantum karate’. Combining her 2 passions, Alice’s science project explores the physics behind karate to provide a better understanding of the sport.
Alice explains, “The wider aim of this research is to improve accessibility in karate and give developing athletes a better understanding of their training, by showing them how to compensate for differing abilities or skills sets using physics, overall improving their performance and allowing a larger range of abilities to find success within the sport. I want to demonstrate that science is applicable to real life.
“To other young people thinking of entering The Big Bang Competition, I’d say go for it!”
There are a range of awards and prizes up for grabs, with the UK Young Scientist of the Year receiving £1,000 prize money.
Gayatri Thiru, year 8, won the junior engineering category with their design for a solar powered, remote-controlled machine that harnesses nanotechnology to clean oil spills in the ocean. It uses magnetite nanoparticles, which are tiny particles that attract oil and repel water. Once these particles soak up the oil, magnetic fields will be used to pull them back out of the water for recovery.
Devansh Srivastava, a year 11 student from Dartford Grammar School won the Accenture Award for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence 2025 for his project on AI-powered smart farming and monitoring. Devansh’s project uses AI and IoT (the Internet of Things) to monitor soil conditions and optimise crop health, helping farmers reduce waste and improve sustainability. The system includes a drone, sensors and a mobile app for real-time insights.
The runners-up were:
- Runner-up Intermediate Engineering 2025 – students from The WREN School, Reading
- Runner-up Junior Science 2025 – Lizzie Wills (year 8), Invicta Grammar School, Maidstone
- Runner-up Junior Technology 2025 – Girish Uppal (year 7), Dartford Grammar School
All the winners and runners-up impressed the Competition judges, who commended them on their projects. The awards are part of The Big Bang Competition, a nationwide competition for young engineers, scientists and technologists.
The winners of The Competition, which recognises and rewards talented young innovators, were announced at The Big Bang Fair, the UK’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people was held at Birmingham’s NEC this week. Run by EngineeringUK, The Fair is supported by organisations across the education and STEM sector including major supporter Rolls-Royce, BBC, EasyJet, Pixelia, Playground Games, National Highways and V&A museum.
Dr Hilary Leevers, EngineeringUK Chief Executive said: “Huge congratulations to all our winners, who have shown impressive creativity, knowledge and drive as they have worked on their projects. I hope they, and all the runners-up, are proud of their achievement. There are so many opportunities for them to continue with STEM in education and training and then in the workplace. I’m sure they have a bright future ahead.”
To find out more and discover all the winners of The Big Bang Competition 2025 visit: thebigbang.org.uk/
