A vice which transforms into a children’s cricket set was named the winning creation at a competition between three educational establishments in Bicester.
Banbury and Bicester College beat off entries from Cooper School and Bicester Community College to be named the winner of the Circular Product Competition which was held as part of the international Disruptive Innovation Festival, which highlights the changing economy. A team of students from each school were tasked with designing and a tool from raw materials and then presenting a plan on how the item could then be redesigned into a children’s toy.
Cllr Tony Ilott, lead member for Cherwell District Council which helped to organise the event, said: “This competition was all about getting the students to think about a circular economy where a product is designed with reuse in mind. The concept of creating a circular product – a new item which is made from something old -was quite challenging but all of these students succeeded brilliantly in generating some fantastic ideas. I would like to thank all involved for their hard work and praise them for their innovative thinking; I hope they now go away from this project thinking more about the ways in which items can be recycled in the future to create a more sustainable economy for everyone.”
Banbury and Bicester College created a clamp-like vice for their tool and submitted proposals on how this could be transformed into a children’s cricket set to meet the toy criteria.
Cooper School scooped second place with their design of a footstool which could then be transformed into a cat toy while Bicester Community College were named runners up for their tool rack that could be converted into sling shoot.
For winning the competition, Banbury and Bicester College were presented with £100 to buy school equipment and given half a day free to spend in the Bicester Green workshop to create something that could benefit the school or be sold as a fundraiser. Cooper School was also given half a day to spend in the Bicester Green workshop in recognition of coming second.
The event was organised by Cherwell District Council in partnership with sustainability organisation Bicester Green and Bicester Vision, with sponsorship from the Bicester to Oxford Collaboration, who are delivering the first phase of the East West Rail project that will ultimately deliver a rail passenger service from Oxford to Cambridge.
The competition will be listed as an event at the new Disruptive Innovation Festival, which encourages organisations, business and entrepreneurs across the UK to host events highlighting the changing economy. The festival has been funded by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Circular Product Competition as part of the international Disruptive Innovation Festival, which highlights the changing economy. For more information visit www.thinkdif.co