A pupil at Saint Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy in Glossop is celebrating after winning a national Primary Engineer competition.
Kaiya was one of two winners in the East Midlands region in her age group and she was awarded with a plaque and a badge at a presentation held at the University of Lincoln.
The Primary Engineer competition is open to all pupils across the country aged from 3 to 19, judged by professional engineers.
Saint Mary’s also had two other pupils shortlisted for the finals, George, who designed a mini robot for exterminating termites, and Nina, who designed a spoon that heated chilled food to the correct temperature. George and Nina were both awarded Highly Commended.
Entrants were asked to answer the question ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do’ by identifying a problem and drawing their solution.
Kaiya, who is a science ambassador and helps to run science club at St Mary’s, in Gladstone Street, created a design inspired by her love of football.
She said: “I came up with the WAAP which is the Womens’ Athletic ACL preventer. Female athletes are more likely than men to get an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury so I came up with the idea of a long sleeve that is worn on the leg, from the knee to the hamstring. Inside there is a circuit that massages the hamstring. The idea is that the massage helps to strengthen the hamstring and this can help to prevent injury to the ACL.
“I found out that I had been shortlisted for the final in assembly. I was really happy and really shocked. I went to the presentation but I didn’t think that I would win it. My family was really proud. We were given a framed picture of our design, a plaque and a badge.
“My dream is to be a footballer, I play for a local club where I am a goalkeeper. If I can’t be a footballer then I’d maybe think about being an engineer or doing something to do with sports science.”
Sarah Rudd, Head of School, said: “As a school, we are extremely proud of Kaiya for receiving this award, and also to Nina and George for their achievements. At Saint Mary’s, we really foster a love of science amongst the pupils, and hope that their interest in the subject area will inspire them to continue to take an interest in this field as they move through the school and onto their secondary education. We all know about Kaiya’s love of sport, particularly female football, so for her to receive this award based on a design that really matches her passion and interests, is wonderful, and just demonstrates what she can achieve in the future.”
