Joshua & Imperial College London

We have been working with our Strategic Partner Imperial College London since 2017, funding the Maker Challenge for 14 – 18 year olds, and the Proto Maker Challenge for 11 – 14 year olds. Through these programmes, Imperial College London hopes to inspire young people from the local White City area to consider a future career in STEM.

Joshua took part in the Maker Challenge in Autumn 2019, when he was in Y13 at Chelsea Academy. He was a joint first-place winner in the finale with his Chromatic Ink Pen, a pen designed to produce any colour, developed with artists in mind.

“I applied to Maker Challenge because I want to study Engineering and I know engineers use a lot of Computer Aided Design. “My product is called the ‘Chromatic Ink Pen’. I thought of the idea because I’m interested in creativity and colours. I have a prototype of a pen that’s a looks-like version. There is an RGB colour sensor on the end so you can scan a specific colour. Components of red, green and blue ink sit inside it with a colour combination mixing tube so once you scan the colour the pen will produce that colour.”

The Makerspace is a hands-on facility for the young people to bring their ideas and innovations to life; from concept through to a finished prototype. The space is full of the latest equipment to encourage creativity and motivate students to push themselves even further.

The programme is incredibly popular with students. Joshua says: “I’ve now got a working understanding of how CAD and 3D printing work. I enjoyed making my prototype because it was something that interested me. After this, I’m planning to go to university to study Mechanical or Automotive Engineering.”