"Outstanding" student's medicine dispenser design wins scholarship

Saturday 16 October 2021

A JCG student with "outstanding" engineering potential has been awarded a scholarship after designing a medicine dispenser that gives the correct dose of medication along with a shot of water to help elderly people.

Annabel, who is in Year 12, was one of 276 students in the UK to receive an Arkwright Scholarship in recognition of her work in Design and Technology (DT).

She was among 1,300 students to take part and one of the 654 candidates to be called for an online interview with the Arkwright panel in April.

The young student explained she had never considered engineering until her DT Teacher, David Jones, introduced her to the scholarship.

“I didn’t think it would be for me and I didn’t know much about it,” Annabel said. “However, I did love DT at school but I tended to lean more towards the sciences. Arkwright introduced me to a wide range of roles within engineering that I didn’t even know existed, such as chemical engineering and biomedical engineering. These intrigued me as they were whole new areas of science that combined elements of DT as well.”

Pictured: Annabel is in Year 12 at Jersey College for Girls.

When Mr Jones suggested she apply for the scholarship, Annabel jumped on the idea, thinking it looked like an “exciting opportunity”.

Mr Jones said JCG has been encouraging Design & Technology GCSE students who aspire to a future in engineering to apply for an Arkwright Scholarship every Autumn term since 2005. 

Annabel is actually the 13th student from the school to receive the prestigious national scholarship, with previous scholars having gaining significant opportunities and experiences from their sponsors. 

“2014 scholar Rachel Hayden won the 2017 Ford Women in STEM Undergraduate of the Year Award and then went on to become Undergraduate Engineering Student of the year in 2018 whilst studying at Bath University,” he explained. “Rachel has become a true ambassador for women in engineering, having worked on projects for Crossrail, Hinckley Nuclear Power Station and even a hospital built in under two years.”

After completing an application form, Annabel was called for a 30-minute interview during which the Arkwright team questioned her about her future goals in engineering, her interests and her technical understanding of engineering.

She then had five minutes to present her recent DT project.

“I designed a medication dispensing unit to facilitate personal medication for the elderly in a nursing home in which their dose was dispensed along with a shot of water in one controlled motion,” she explained. “I was asked many questions regarding the aim of the project, reasons for certain decisions within the construction of it and ways in which I would develop it further if I could.”

The budding engineer says she enjoyed the application experience and believes that it helped her pick up many skills

“I was thrilled to hear that I had been selected as an Arkwright scholar, especially as this year I didn’t get the chance to speak to the interviewers face-to-face,” she said. “I have been sponsored by JT Global which is very exciting as it is a very big company and so therefore it is an honour to be supported by them.         

“I hope to use this scholarship to widen my understanding of the different roles within engineering and discover the ones that I think I would be most suited for. I also hope to gain guidance and advice from my sponsor regarding my future studies.”

Mr Jones said the school was equally thrilled to hear that Annabel had been recognized for her “brilliance in design and engineering”. 

“As one of our brightest young design talents, Annabel has shown an outstanding level of problem solving and design skill whilst developing her medicine dispenser,” he said. 

“She has worked hard and in great technical detail on the different iterations of her design through sketching, modelling and the use of computer aided design and the 3D Printer. The final outcome is a triumph.”