Mackie Academy in Stonehaven was the venue for the first of the 2014/15 Challenge Days, with Kinross High, Larbet High, Bearsden Academy, Kilwinning Academy and Lockerbie Academy being the other hosting schools in Scotland.

The Kinross Challenge Day had teams for Kinross High, Perth High, Perth Academy, Kirkcaldy High and Queen Anne High from Dunfermline pitting their wits to see which team could come up with the best solution to the Challenge.



Throughout the day there was a real buzz as the members of each team went enthusiastically about their allotted roles. Setting out their ideas, developing their 3D models, and making use of the tutorials on the building of electronic circuits that would make their finished design stand out from the others.



The highlight of this Challenge was the opportunity to have their 3D modelling turned into reality by 3D printers.  There was a degree of awe as they watched the printers bring to life what they had developed on the laptop screens.



Meanwhile other team members, having followed the tutorials, purchased components for their electronic circuit building, trying out various ideas to incorporate in their finished design. In parallel one team member was preparing a Power Point presentation, describing how their team had responded to the Challenge. How their team had organised themselves, problems encountered and solved, and how their design could be turned into a finished product.



All too quickly the time to make these presentation arrived. As each team took their turn very interesting, well prepared presentations where revealed. Presentations which people two and three times the young peoples’ ages would have been pleased to produce.



At the end of this Challenge Day, Queen Anne High School from Dunfermline scored the highest mark, taken back to school the IET trophy and wondering how their achievement will measure up against all the other schools taking the Faraday Challenge over the coming months.