A MILLOM School pupil has won UK Intermediate Young Engineer of the Year at the National Big Bang Competition in March.

Jack Tallentire originally entered and won the regional Big Bang Competition at Liverpool and gained a place in the final at Birmingham's NEC.

Jack has been involved with STEM since the beginning of secondary school, and is aiming to gain his BSA Gold Crest.

He said: "After entering and winning the regional Big Bang Competition at Liverpool and gaining a place in the final, I realised that I would need additional assistance to develop the model thereby demonstrating continuous progress of my concepts.

"I engaged Sellafield Ltd to help build an improved version, facilitated by their Innovations Centre.

"While the end result was far from a finalised product, it demonstrated active development to the device from a structural point of view.

"To win UK Intermediate Young Engineer of the Year at the National Big Bang Competition at the NEC has far exceeded any expectations that I originally had, and has been a massive boost to my confidence through all of the positive feedback.

"My device, utilises ultrasonic proximity sensors combined within an Arduino Microprocessor setup, takes the form of a crutch with a large wheel base. It uses these sensors to detect obstructions around the user and alert them as to the location and proximity of such obstructions via vibrations located at specific points within the handle.

"Ultimately, I hope for the industry to take an interest in this idea and help me to develop it."