PUPILS at a Glasgow school have been making waves and winning prizes.

 

The Castlemilk High pupils have been crowned Junior Saltire champions after designing and building a floating wave energy converter, using wave power to create electricity.

They put their gadget to the test at the University of Edinburgh's FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility - the world's most sophisticated ocean simulator.

After impressing judges, they were named winners at the Celebration of Science and Engineering at the Glasgow Science Centre, receiving Junior Saltire medals and £750 for their school from Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, Fergus Ewing.

Team member Dylan Qua said: "We wanted our design to be something that was simple, but which still worked, and we came up with a device that hangs vertically in the water, and moves up and down with the waves to generate electricity.

"The main idea for it was that it could be deployed quickly in disaster areas, and we were pleased to see it worked the way we expected when we tested it out at FloWave."

More than 200 teams from around Scotland entered the competition, which is funded by the Scottish Government in partnership with Skills Development Scotland (SDS).

Mr Ewing said: "I am delighted that the Scottish Government is once again supporting the Junior Saltire Prize - now in its fifth year.

"This event is raising awareness of the opportunities that Scotland has to exploit its wave energy potential.

"I congratulate all of this year's finalists who had the unique opportunity to test their wave energy converters at FloWave, the only test tank in the world that provides multi-directional waves with fast tidal flows simulating real sea conditions."

The competition is split into three age groups: P5-P7, S1-S3 and S4-S6, with teams in each age group having to submit an initial design brief followed by evidence of their finished model.

Castlemilk High won in the S4-S6 age group.

Diane Hill, Energy Partnership Manager at SDS, said: "The judges were hugely impressed with the hard work and the creativity shown by all of the teams who reached the final, and they should be extremely proud of themselves.

"The wide range of designs developed by the teams showed real inventiveness and a genuine insight into the world of renewable energy, and we hope this will encourage pupils to explore career options in this growing industry in the future."