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A portable pollution monitor, a robodog, smart food storage containers and a blueprint for a renewable theme park model using wind, solar and kinetic energy, are just some of the diverse and impressive projects being showcased by UK secondary school pupils selected as national finalists in this year’s Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.

Winners of the Big Bang Competition, which takes place at the Big Bang Fair at the NEC in Birmingham 19 to June 21, have the opportunity to win a range of prizes and could be crowned Big Bang UK Young Engineer and UK Young Scientist. This year, a new award, UK Young Technologist of the Year is being introduced and is being supported by Siemens. Each of these categories is awarded a prize of £1,000.

The aim of the annual Big Bang Fair is to inspire young people to consider careers in STEM through hands-on activities, career panel and incredible shows.

Mark Wood, Social Sustainability Lead, Siemens, UK and Ireland, comments, “The Big Bang Competition is a great initiative to bring the brightest young minds together to solve the challenges of tomorrow. It is fantastic we now have the UK Young Technologist of the Year award alongside the UK Scientist and UK Engineer of the Year as this recognises the importance of digital skills and technology in all of our lives and our futures.

A student gets a hair raising experience discovering static energy at the Big Bang Fair

“Technology will help answer our current and future challenges and it is right we empower the next generation to take ownership and take us forward.”

Judging The Big Bang Competition has been tough with a very high standard of entries from across the UK.

School finalists from East Midlands:

William Farr CofE Comprehensive School, LincolnshireThe King's (The Cathedral) School, Peterborough

Phil McShane, Associate Director of The Big Bang programme, comments “This year we’ve had hundreds of young people enter more than 300 projects into The Competition and the standard of the projects has been really high. The Big Bang Competition judges were extremely impressed with the creativity and innovation shown to solve real-world challenges demonstrated by all the young people who participated.”

A full list of schools taking part from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can be found on the Big Bang website.

The winners of The Big Bang Competition will be announced at the Award Ceremony at The Big Bang Fair on Wednesday 19 June at the NEC in Birmingham. The much-loved Fair – which is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people in the UK - runs from Wednesday 19 to Friday 21 June.

There are limited tickets remaining for schools wishing to attend, with remaining tickets available for the Friday 21 June sessions. Free to attend and aimed at 10 to 13s, it includes inspirational talks, interactive workshops, and hands-on exhibits and careers information from STEM professionals.

Good luck to the finalist schools!

Visit the Big Bang website , www.thebigbang.org.uk to stay up to date and to find out more.

Students prepare to showcase projects in Big Bang UK