Six enthusiastic Year 9 students from Woodham Academy attended a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) project introduction day at GlaxoSmithKline in Barnard Castle.
The project, organised by the Engineering Development Trust (EDT), is aimed at 12-14 year olds to encourage them to consider a career in engineering.
The students watched a presentation about Glaxo given by the staff that will be assisting them with their project before having a tour of the manufacturing plant.
After lunch they took part in a mini ‘Dragons Den’, winning with a design for a new environmentally friendly heating system for their school.
The team will now spend the next 10 weeks working on their Go4SET project which has the theme of ‘A healthy school’.
Their initial idea is to devise a way for the waste from the school kitchens to be used to produce gas to heat the ovens.
The next event will be the presentation and judging of the projects which will take place at Newcastle University in June. The winners of this regional event will then go to London to present their project at the national finals.
The team members are: Jaydene Chappell, Lillie Bell, Harry Duggan, James Dick, Paul Gray and Charlotte Kirton.
