It’s not exactly how Asimov thought it might unfold – but robots are already part of our daily lives, working largely unseen in all kinds of environments from factories to hospitals. Now a new competition has been launched to encourage students to think about how these machines might be developed and used in the future; for Harper Adams University’s inaugural Young Innovator of the Year awards, young people aged between 11 and 19 are invited to submit a poster, web page or video identifying an issue faced by society and their proposal for a robot that could help solve this problem.
Prizes of £100 will be awarded to four winners – best boys and girls in age categories 11-15 and 16-19. From those four, the overall Young Innovator of the Year will be selected, winning a £500 personal prize. The final prize of £300 will go to the school which has the highest standard of combined entries from all of their students when judged as a group.
For more information, including how to enter, visit harper.ac.uk/innovator. The closing date is Wednesday 30 April, 2014.
