Cranford Review 2019

On
West London Science & Technology
Challenge Day at Brunel University
Friday 14th June 2019 twelve year 9 students,
Manav Vivek, Harsimran Bath, Satnam Curry,
Uthistan Sritharan, Ayesha Kaur, Amandeep Thiara,
Shritu Singh, Neha Khendria, Nechal Singh, Younis Abdi, Swarnali
Acharjee and Kehan Munir, travelled to Brunel University in West
London to take part in a Science & Technology Challenge Day.
While the day had a competitive element to it, the chief focus was to
give the students a taste of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering
and Maths) topics and skills that they would not usually have the
opportunity to experience in school. On arriving at the STEM Centre at
Brunel University, the students were paired up before being assigned a
random pairing from one of the other accompanying schools to make a
team of 4. This may have been daunting to some, however the students
quickly settled into it and before long it was if they had known each
other for weeks, rather than minutes. Each team had three challenges
to complete:
• The E-Fit challenge – students watched a ‘robbery’ take place and
then had to use a computer programme (the same used by the police)
to make an accurate representation of the culprit.
• Robotics – students learnt how to code a robot to carry out different
actions or responses, such as to avoid crashing into walls, or play a
sound when it drove over a red coloured block on the floor.
• Hospital diagnosis – two current medical students taught the students
how to diagnose a patient’s level of consciousness and then put their
knowledge to the test with a live ‘patient’. Our students had to work
together to find out how responsive the patient was and then deduce
what injuries/conditions they were suffering from.
During the lunch hour the students had the opportunity to watch an
immersive documentary showcasing Tim Peake’s journey to and onboard
the ISS in Brunel’s 360o 3D dome.
All of our students were tremendous participators and benefitted
hugely from the day, taking the opportunity to ask current students
and lecturers questions about life and studying at university. Whilst
all should be congratulated for their participation, particular praise
must go out to Kehan and Uthistan who, alongside their partners from
Dormers Wells High School, won the event overall and have therefore
qualified for the All London Finals later in the year.
Bradley King (Science Department)
“My trip to Brunel University
was phenomenal as we had many
opportunities to try out some
scientific activities there including
robotics, acting like doctors,
becoming a professional detective
such as taking in information
about how someone looks and entering
this onto a computer. We also had an
activity where we were able to get a
glimpse of what space is like. My
favourite part was handling robots and
trying to find some form of procedure/
pattern to make the robot move; trying
out different ways to keep it consistent.
Towards the end of the trip we had
a Q&A session with the university
students who had taken part in
the activities. Overall the trip
was outstanding and one of my
favourite experiences so far”.
Nehchal Singh (year 9)
“It was really fun and I got to learn and
see new things. One thing I enjoyed was
that after the robot activity, we could
see the robot of a snake that would
“bite” you when you put your hand in
front of it”.
Neha Khendria (year 9)
“It was a fantastic experience, I
really enjoyed the range of activities.
Particularly diagnostics as it was
intriguing seeing the methods doctors
use to diagnose their patients. Another
thing I found fascinating was the space
display. It was a very unique experience
which I would like to repeat”.
Harsimran Bath (year 9)
“I, along with a number of students
from year 9 with a passion for the
STEM fields, got the opportunity to
visit Brunel University for a science,
technology, engineering and maths
activity being held at the university.
I was in awe as I saw the colossal
buildings towering over us. We got split
into 3 groups and smaller teams among
the multiple other schools. We got the
chance to programme model vehicles
made of Lego, use E-FIT which is a
software that produces digital facial
composites and a medical activity
where we found out how a typical doctor
would diagnose patients’ conditions.
I was genuinely overwhelmed by the
exciting atmosphere. However what I
found most thrilling was the 3D Dome,
where footage from outer space was
being projected. The whole experience
felt surreal to me, as if we weren’t in this
world and it was so extraordinary that
I’m left speechless by this experience
to this day.”
Swarnali Acharjee (year 9)
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