Kilmarnock Academy recognised at national quadcopter competition
A team of four young people – Noah, Jack, Oliver and Taylor – from Kilmarnock Academy, with their teachers Mr Campbell and Mrs Lindsay, travelled to the 2024 RTX Quadcopter Challenge Final at RAF Cosford, recently.
In its ninth year, RTX’s Quadcoptor Challenge puts the STEM skills of young people from across the UK to the test. This year’s theme – ‘Extreme Locations: Breaking the boundaries of exploration’ – was an exciting challenge for Kilmarnock Academy’s Team RAAD who represented Scotland having won the Scottish final earlier this year.
The team had to modify an existing quadcopter design to ensure it could reach extreme locations and gather data. The concept behind the challenge was climate change, and work that will be needed to combat natural disasters, address climate change challenges to help protect our planet and explore the unknown, including areas of global warming, such as polar ice caps.
Kilmarnock Academy, who were up against 14 excellent teams, won ‘The Best Engineered Drone’ and came fourth overall. Their drone, which had taken months to build and was mainly 3D printed, had to be flown through two assault courses as part of the challenge and Pilot Jack managed this with minimal damage. The team also had to present their design and answer questions from a panel, so it was a really intense competition.
Councillor Elaine Cowan, Spokesperson for Education, and Children and Young People said: "What an amazing opportunity for our young people to compete against some of the brightest minds in the UK. The competition was tough but Noah, Jack, Oliver and Taylor held their nerve and winning ‘The Best Engineered Drone’ is an incredible achievement.
"Congratulations to the team and the whole school, everyone is so proud of your achievements."
Head Teacher David Rose said: "Everyone at Kilmarnock Academy is really proud of the Teams' achievements. They have worked exceptionally hard for months, in their own time at lunchtimes and have had a great experience from start to finish.
"I wish to thank Mr Campbell and Mrs Lindsay for their leadership and commitment to the project. A special mention must be made to thank our partner Collins Aerospace for all their support, it has been invaluable!'