In a week full of exam papers and revision, we took a look at the innovative exam pieces created by some of our Design Technology (DT) GCSE pupils.
DT at GSCE level is very challenging and the boys have spent months of hard work refining and perfecting their inventions. DT offers young people a great blend of creative and technical skills, and many of our boys will progress onto further study in design and technology, and other related areas. The subject provides a great platform for those interested in careers in, for example, engineering, manufacturing, architecture, design and a range of creative and digital industries.
Problem Solving
Pupils were asked to identify a design problem relating to a human need and develop a solution for which they were required to produce a prototype, using materials and equipment available to them in the DT suite.
Here are some examples of their work:
The Helping Hang
James Brazil was fed up of coat hangers stretching the necklines of his favourite jumpers and t-shirts when hanging them up. James developed the idea of a folding coat hanger whereby the two hanger arms can be folded down to make the hanger narrow enough to insert into the neckline and then opened up once the hanger is in the garment. James made his hanger out of modelling plaster, which he cut and shaped using the CNC Milling machine. Magnets have been inserted into the joins to enable the hanger to easily snap back together, and stay together, once it is in the garment. From concept through to the finished product, this has taken James 18 months to complete.
The Dock Holder
Jack Jordan set out to tackle the relatively modern-day problem of messy mobile phone wires cluttering up his worktops. So he designed a neat little charging shelf which features multiple benefits. As well as acting as a handy mobile phone holder, its design allows charging wires to be wrapped around the back and tucked away, out of sight, while your phone is charging. Jack also used modelling plaster and shaped it using the CNC Milling machine, mainly because he thought this was the most durable material for the job. Jack is particularly fond of the colour he used and is planning to use the device himself as soon as the examiners have assessed it.
The Vision Ring
Having witnessed medical professionals often experiencing difficulty finding veins in patients’ arms, Alex Lamb came up with the ingenious idea of a ‘Vision Ring’, which is fitted on to the patient’s arm prior to receiving an injection. Whilst vein finders such as these are already in existence, Alex’s design is quite unique in the way it is fitted on the arm. The LED lights (in this prototype they are blue, but would be red in a working example) show where the veins are located underneath the patient’s skin to enable an injection to be administered quickly and with less pain. Alex decided to create his design using biodegradable Polyactide (an aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources) on the 3D printer. This enabled Alex to spend quite a bit of time honing and perfecting the design to get it exactly how he wanted.
Our DT exhibition is always awe-inspiring, and some of the other imaginative designs include a car seat for your dog (‘Safe Space’), a twin Sellotape holder with protection guard, a dog poop scooper, a laptop rest, a water bottle filter and a stylish iPhone docking station.
Well done to all the boys who have invested so much time into their exams and we hope your efforts are reflected in your exam marks.
