Eight north-east academies have competed to be crowned the winners of an annual technology competition.
The North East Scotland College’s (Nescol) Schools Technology Challenge was hosted at its Fraserburgh campus this week.
And last night, it crowned Meldrum Academy as the top school in the area.
The competition asks the secondary schools to send their best boy and girl to Fraserburgh to compete in a number of challenges, including maths, science, technology and engineering.
This year, Luca D’ Ambruoso and Jessica Riach pipped their peers from Banff, Fraserburgh, The Gordon Schools in Huntly, Ellon, Mintlaw, Peterhead and Turriff to be crowned.
Duncan Abernethy, Nescol’s director of business development, last night congratulated all 16 youngsters who took part.
“It is a huge achievement for you to be selected as ambassadors for your schools,” he said.
“Not only were you best in class, but you were also deemed to be the best in school for this particular challenge, communicating effectively as teammates.
“Our thanks once again go to our valued sponsor Shell for their continuing support of this competition.”
The winners each received an iPad mini plus the Challenge Shield, whilst the runners up – Owen Edwards and Eilidh Hislop from Ellon Academy – each received a Fitbit Blaze.
The remaining participants were all presented with FitBits.
Steve Morrice, Shell’s plant manager at St Fergus, helped judge the competition.
He said: “Our industry needs talented people with relevant knowledge and skills in these areas. Shell aims to inspire young people to pursue careers in STEM through programmes like the Schools Technology Challenge.”
The Schools Technology Challenge is in its fifteenth year and aims to encourage young people to consider engineering as a potential career option.
Each year, about 1,3000 people engage with the competition.
A spokeswoman for Nescol said: “The competition is an example of how schools, the college and industry continue to work effectively and collaboratively together for the good of the young people living and learning in the north-east of Scotland.”
