From a pen that spots spelling mistakes to home-grown CLOTHES: Teens design range of futuristic gadgets for cars and houses


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Teenagers from across the country have dreamed up inventions from play parks that generate power to wardrobes that choose an outfit, in a bid to make life 'better, simpler and easier' in the future.

Whimsical ideas entered for The Teen Tech Awards include a pen that spots spelling mistakes, and a way to grow your own clothes.

Other designs, which have been presented at The Royal Society in London today, aimed to solve some of society's more pressing problems and give people suffering from dementia, for example, extra care.

Teenagers have dreamed up inventions of the future, including a pen that spots spelling mistakes, for The Teen Tech Awards. The 'spellomatic pen' was the brainchild of (from left to right) Lottie Richter (14), Izzie Woodland (13) and Freya Child (14) from Oldfield School in Somerset

Teenagers have dreamed up inventions of the future, including a pen that spots spelling mistakes, for The Teen Tech Awards. The 'spellomatic pen' was the brainchild of (from left to right) Lottie Richter (14), Izzie Woodland (13) and Freya Child (14) from Oldfield School in Somerset

AND THE WINNERS ARE....

The overall winners were students from Birkdale School in Sheffield with their idea to make cars safer by lowering the risk of slipping in bad conditions. 

Max Doody and James Bradley, both 15, explained: 'We're both keen motorsports fans and were chatting about the cars in a maths lesson. 

'Our idea was that if a fan was used to suck the car down to the road, traction levels would be higher so in wet or icy conditions, the car would be a lot safer.'

'After winning the TeenTech Award we're now itching for the next step of commercialising the idea.  We're looking for further partners in the auto industry to bring this to reality.'

The awards is part of a drive by scientists and educators to increase the number of teenagers obtaining qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – known as Stem subjects.

A total of one hundred teenagers from across the UK were picked to present their work to a team of judges, who included Top Gear's James May, Stephen Fry, TV presenters Kate Russell and Maggie Philbin, as well as academics.

The 'spellomatic pen' was the brainchild of three girls from Oldfield School in Somerset.

It was designed to detect handwriting and point out if a word is spelt incorrectly. While it could be used by anyone, the smart pen is intended to help dyslexic people, in particular.

 

Pupils from The Hayfield School, Doncaster, created Snap-Wrap, which is an idea for a smartwatch that tells people if they have eaten their five-a-day.

A team of three girls from Hampton School in Greater London, came up with Scanner-Planner, which is a magnet that 'solves all your best before date worries'.

The magnet would clip to a fridge and set off an alarm when an item inside is out of date. In order to use the device, people would need to type the date into the device – before promptly forgetting to eat it.

Say cheese! A total of one hundred teenagers from across the UK were picked to present their work to a team of judges, who included Top Gear's James May, seen posing here for a selfie

Say cheese! A total of one hundred teenagers from across the UK were picked to present their work to a team of judges, who included Top Gear's James May, seen posing here for a selfie

Year 8 pupils at Sandbach High School in Cheshire created a project called Grow Your Own Clothes.

'Trends moves so quickly these days, that as people try to keep up with fashion, their old clothes just get wasted...We wanted to create a biodegradable material that was affordable and on-trend and could be grown by anybody,' they said.

To do this, the pupils mixed green tea with sugar and cider vinegar to create a culture that creates thin layers of fibres. It takes up to a month to develop and the resulting fabric can be dyed naturally with beetroot juice.

Sarah Griffin, 15, a student from Loreto Grammar School, Cheshire, come up with the idea for 'Dementiago,' a waterproof anklet that can be worn by dementia sufferers and allows family member and carers to track them using a smartphone app.

Pupils from The Hayfield School, Doncaster, created Snap-Wrap, which is an idea for smartwatch that tells people if they have eaten their five-a-day. Alessia Coe, Thomas Cerenko and Drew Budtz are pictured left to right wearing their design

Pupils from The Hayfield School, Doncaster, created Snap-Wrap, which is an idea for smartwatch that tells people if they have eaten their five-a-day. Alessia Coe, Thomas Cerenko and Drew Budtz are pictured left to right wearing their design

It would contain a microchip with the person's name, age, address, next of kin and medical information on it, which could be scanned by medical professionals in the event of an emergency.

Griffin designed the anklet to give people with dementia more freedom and family members peace of mind that their relative is safe.

She won the healthcare category in the competition last year with a blood glucose monitor for diabetics, and is currently raising money to put it into production.

A team of students from Stocksbridge High School, South Yorkshire, invented the MicroGlove for deaf people. Using built-in microphones, the glove would translate speech into text, which is displayed on a touchscreen.

The person using the glove could either speak back naturally or even use the glove to reply in another language of their choice.

All the inventions are intended to change the future of Britain and there are winners of each of the 15 categories, as well as an overall champion. The Duke of York also attended the competition.

Sarah Griffin,15, (pictured) came up with - 'Dementiago' - an waterproof anklet that can be worn by dementia sufferers and allows family member and carers to track them using a smartphone app. Here, she explains her invention to Stephen Fry

Sarah Griffin,15, (pictured) came up with - 'Dementiago' - an waterproof anklet that can be worn by dementia sufferers and allows family member and carers to track them using a smartphone app. Here, she explains her invention to Stephen Fry

'If we don't encourage young people to be interested in technology and the digital world and apply that knowledge then we are not going to be a rich country in the future,' he said.

The overall winners were students from Birkdale School in Sheffield with their idea to make cars safer by lowering the risk of slipping in bad conditions. 

Max Doody and James Bradley, both 15, explained: 'We're both keen motorsports fans and were chatting about the cars in a maths lesson. 

'Our idea was that if a fan was used to suck the car down to the road, traction levels would be higher so in wet or icy conditions, the car would be a lot safer.'

'After winning the TeenTech Award we're now itching for the next step of commercialising the idea.  We're looking for further partners in the auto industry to bring this to reality.'

The awards is part of a drive by scientists and educators to increase the number of teenagers obtaining qualifications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – known as Stem subjects.

A recent study by the Royal Academy of Engineering warned there will be a shortfall of 830,000 Stem graduates by 2020. The UK currently only produces 23,000 engineering graduates a year.

TeenTech will be run in 12 regions and is expected to reach over 350 schools in 2014 and 2015.

Year 8 pupils in Cheshire created a project called Grow Your Own Clothes. 'Trends moves so quickly these days. We wanted to create a biodegradable material that was affordable and on-trend', they said. Jacqueline Vu (left) and Lydia Houghton (right) are pictured with James May

Year 8 pupils in Cheshire created a project called Grow Your Own Clothes. 'Trends moves so quickly these days. We wanted to create a biodegradable material that was affordable and on-trend', they said. Jacqueline Vu (left) and Lydia Houghton (right) are pictured with James May



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