Competition time!

Brunel University in West London is inviting entries from 14 - 18 year-olds for its Innovation and Engineering Awards, with more than £4,000 of competition prizes to be won.

The competition forms part of the IKB Awards – a series of nationwide competitions – to mark the bicentenary of the University’s namesake, the Victorian engineering genius, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the 40th anniversary of the University’s Royal Charter, in 2006.

With four separate awards for Engineering, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Young Companies, the IKB Awards offer an opportunity for young people to realise their ideas.

The Engineering and Innovation Awards Age Group 1 is open to 14-18 year olds. The prizes include £1,000 cash for each competition plus £1,000 worth of consultancy for the winners.

Leading experts will take their concepts and ideas to the prototype stage and beyond. In addition, winners will be invited to a prestigious black tie awards dinner at the Science Museum, London in April, 2006, the bicentenary month of IKB’s birth.

For the Innovation Award, entrants must come up with the idea for a product to solve an everyday problem. For the Engineering Award they must devise something that could change the future through engineering. All entries must be submitted by 31 October, 2005.

Individuals or schools need to submit a synopsis of their idea (500 words for the Innovation Award, 800 words for the Engineering Award) along with a visualisation of the idea or a photograph of a basic working model.

The competition has received backing by industry and government organisations such as the ETB. It is being organised by Brunel University in association with ideas21.

The Engineering Award Age Group 1:14 – 18 year olds is sponsored by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).

The Innovation Award for this age group is sponsored by the IEE. For further details of the competition, or to download an application form or teachers pack, visit www.brunel.ac.uk/ikbawards.