Pipers Students are National Competition Finalists

Congratulations to Pipers students, Chloe J and Georgia B (both Year 7), who have been shortlisted as finalists in the National Alu D&T Challenge.

The aim of the Alu D&T Challenge is to inform and enthuse young people about aluminium and the valuable contribution it can make towards a more sustainable way of life. Developed by the UK Aluminium industry and supported by industry experts, participants were asked to select one of the following three design challenges, each focusing on different uses of aluminium:

• An accessible vehicle for the future – focusing on aluminium in transport
• A garden building for a creative home worker – focusing on aluminium in construction
• A new way to use aluminium in packaging  – focusing on aluminium in packaging

The Challenges are a great way to help students’ design and technical knowledge, allowing them to get creative and put their design skills to work.

As an activity in extra-curricular DT Club, Chloe and Georgia worked together on the Challenge. After choosing to concentrate on the brief of a garden building for a creative home worker, they came up with some initial ideas considering things such as: what the building would be used for, how it would be constructed, what materials would be used, lighting requirements and storage solutions.

They also considered the six Rs of sustainability in their planning – Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Repair, Reuse and Recycle.

Following their initial work the girls took time to sketch and consider many different ideas before creating a model of their building which consisted of a number of elements including:

• A structure made of plywood walls, floor and ceiling. The parts were laser cut, having been drawn to scale on 2D design. In reality this would be made of treated plywood slotting into an extruded aluminium frame and base which is bolted together so it can be dismantled if the artist were to move.
• An Astro turf roof and base on foam board. In reality this would be a living roof and real grass in the garden.
• An acrylic solar flower (2D design CAD/CAM) with wire support (bent with pliers). In reality this would be a bought in component to provide clean electricity as the girls wanted to provide their artist with electricity for lighting and the ability to boil a kettle and play music whilst working.
• Card pieces with foil pressed onto it for the flooring and outside step. In reality this would be made of texturised sheet aluminium.
•  Aluminium foil used to make a wood burner and chimney with scaled down picture of flames. In reality a rolled sheet tube of aluminium would be used to create the fire’s chimney.

Chloe and Georgia’s project will now go forward to a second round of judging before the overall winners are announced in March! So we congratulate the girls on their great achievement so far, and look forward to hearing how they get on later in the term.