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July 7th 2025
Last week, at the Institute of Engineering and Technology in Savoy Place, London, Year 7 pupils from Farnborough Hill, Tia and Alice, attended the highly prestigious TeenTech Awards Ceremony. TeenTech is a national STEM based competition: it is a celebration of the talent and creativity of young people who have risen to the challenge of making life ‘better, simpler, safer or more fun’. Over 1,500 students from across the country submitted projects with just 72 teams, comprising 148 students, making it to the judges’ day.
Having worked on their project, TAY, since last September, Tia and Alice were selected as finalists in the Safety and Security category. The girls’ project was judged by the sponsors of the Safety and Security category, Commvault, who were genuinely impressed with their work, the model and how the girls presented themselves. Tia took a lead on explaining the project which was devised to monitor safety and security in a domestic setting. The detailed model had a range of sensors and monitors for detecting smoke, temperature, moisture and motion, and a RFID entry system.
The girls also faced scrutiny from their peers and fellow finalists, who toured the exhibition of creations and chose their favourites from the entries. They were thrilled to subsequently be revealed as the winners of the People’s Choice Award.
Head of Design and Technology, Mr Ciaran Bradley, who supported the girls throughout their project, commented:
‘I was incredibly impressed with Tia and Alice, from their initial concept and ideas to their top-class execution within their model. They built complex circuits and problem-solved, tweaking and honing their design to achieve a fully working model which could be scaled up to a state-of-the-art home monitoring system. To have this ingenuity at just 11 and 12 years old is phenomenal. The competition to reach the final was tough, and to be one of just 72 teams to do so is a testament to their teamwork and determination. Being awarded the People’s Choice Award, voted by their peers, was incredible and very, very well-deserved.’
Pupil Tia added: ‘My experience at TeenTech was really exciting and fun. One of the best parts was when the judges came over to talk to me about my project. They asked interesting questions and really listened to what I had to say, which made me feel very proud. It was so cool to get feedback from people who work in tech and science, and it showed me that my ideas could actually matter. They gave me some great advice, and it made me want to keep learning and coming up with new ideas in the future.'
Huge congratulations to Tia and Alice, Farnborough Hill are very proud of you!
