William Farr School Wins Sustainable Design Competition!

Published 28th March 2025

We are thrilled to announce the winner of our exciting competition, held in collaboration with The Sustainable Design Studio! After receiving an array of impressive entries from talented Key Stage 3 and 4 students across the country, the judging panel has selected a Year 11 student from William Farr School, submitted by their teacher Neil Wright, as the overall winner.

The competition, which was open exclusively to D&T Association members, challenged students to showcase their creativity and innovation while incorporating sustainability into their design projects. Entrants were tasked with demonstrating how 3D printing could be used effectively in their designs while also considering sustainability and material use.

Why This Project Won

The winning project was an innovative hand-eye coordination development tool for pre-school children, inspired by a games controller and the Iron Man film. The design took influence from the disassembly of an old Simon memory game and was built using an Arduino microcontroller, IMU unit, and neopixels. The student created 3D-printed components using Onshape and printed them on a Creality Ender V2 printer.

We were particularly impressed with how 3D printing was used as part of the iterative design process, allowing for a bespoke, high-accuracy multi-part assembly. The student carefully modelled parts before printing to minimise waste and designed components to require minimal supports, demonstrating both creativity and sustainability.

As the winning school, William Farr School will receive a state-of-the-art 3D printing filament maker, enabling students to transform plastic waste into usable filament—a fantastic step towards eco-friendly design solutions.

Celebrating Our Runners-Up

In addition to our winner, the judges were highly impressed by two outstanding student submissions, entered by their teachers:

• Bradfields School
• Emanuel School

Both projects showcased remarkable creativity, problem-solving skills, and strong sustainable design principles.

A Huge Thank You!

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the winning student from William Farr School, along with their teacher Neil Wright, as well as our talented runners-up and their teachers John Walker and Neil Guegan. A huge thank you to all the teachers and students who participated—it was inspiring to see so many young designers prioritising sustainability and innovation in their work.

This competition has highlighted the incredible potential of students to make a real impact in sustainable design. We hope this inspires more schools to integrate eco-conscious practices into their D&T curriculum.

Stay tuned for future opportunities, and once again, congratulations to our winners!