Cambridge teen scoops national engineering award

Rishan Sharma emerged victorious in the Big Bang Competition Junior Engineering category with his project 'Blind Vision'. Credit: EngineeringUK.

A teenager from Cambridge has won a national award in the prestigious Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.

Rishan Sharma, a student at Cambourne Village College, emerged victorious in the Junior Engineering category with his project 'Blind Vision'.

Blind Vision is designed to help people who have limited eyesight and often have difficulty differentiating between distinct objects. It uses a Raspberry Pi and a pair of specially adapted glasses to analyse objects, which are then identified and read aloud by the system.

Talking about his project, Rishan said: “I hope this project can be taken to a manufacturing level, where it can be used globally. I think it can help people with vision impairments - who may not have enough money for an expensive Google Lens or a stem cell eye repair, to see again.”

Dr Hilary Leevers, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, which runs The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition, added: “Congratulations to Rishan on their award. This is a brilliant achievement. We’ve been really impressed with all the entries received this year, but this project stood out as being particularly innovative.”

The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition winners were announced at the recent Big Bang Fair, held on 21 to 23 June 2023 at the NEC in Birmingham.

Engineering UK’s Big Bang initiative gives professionals across STEM sectors the chance to give back to their profession and make a difference in young people's lives. It is designed to inspire and encourage all young people to discover exciting possibilities in STEM.

To find out more and discover all the winners of The Big Bang Competition 2023 visit: www.thebigbang.org.uk/competition-winners

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