Pupils in 3rd & 4th class recently worked on the STEPS Young Engineers programme over a number of weeks. Pupils worked in groups and using the STEPS project book, identified three things they wanted to improve in their community. Once they identified three possible projects, they choose one project and applied an engineering process. They designed and drew a prototype, made a prototype of the design with materials of their choice, tested and evaluated their prototype and wrote a report.
The 5 groups worked on the following projects:
- A safety helmet for hurling referees
- A modified bottle return scheme machine
- A robotic wheelchair
- A solar powered dishwasher
- Automatic shoes
As part of the project schools can request a STEPS engineer visit before the submission of the project books. We were delighted to welcome Declan Condon from Coffey group to the school to share his experience of working as an engineer and the real world problems encountered on projects and how these were solved. Declan gave a fantastic presentation to the class and outlined his earliest memories of his interest in engineering which arose from a life-long love of building Lego which we were delighted to hear about! Declan then answered the many questions we had!
Following this, each group presented their design idea and protype to Declan with each pupil in the group involved in the explanation including outlining difficulties they encountered and how they addressed these. Thank you to Declan and Coffey Group for deciding to get involved in the STEPS Young Engineers project. Take a look at photos from the presentation day below.
Declan kindly presented each pupil with a goodie bag from Coffey Group which was an unexpected surprise and pupils loved their hard hat pencil toppers!
Safety Helmet for hurling referees
Pupils identified the dangers of a hurling referee receiving a serious head infury from the sliotar as happened during the 2024 All-Ireland hurling final. The designed a helmet to project the referee’s head but not block their view. the helmet has an in-built mic and is also coneected up to the umpires.
Upgraded Bottle Return Scheme Machine
Pupils decided that this machine could be improve as it encrouages recycling but yet wondered how much paper is used in printing receipts. They added an app option to the machine where a customer registers an account on the Return app on their phone. Their unique barcode on the app can then be scanned at tills in the same way a bar code is scanned for reward shemes and customers receive their money. However they decided that some customers may still wish to print their receipt but the return app on the phone would reduce the amount of paper used in machines nationwide.
A Robotic Wheelchair
Pupils made a robotic wheelchair with joystick controls for the user especially users with limitied mobility.
Solar Powered Dishwasher
Pupils designed a dishwasher that was solar powered that could run on harvested rain-water with an in-built filtereing system to filter the water which is a very environmentally friendly design. The dishwasher was complete with all the plate racks etc. typically found in dishwasher designs.
Robotic Shoes
Pupils designed robotic shoes that eliminates the need to tie shoelaces. The bands which use sensors when the foot is being placed into the shoe snaps close which they branded JEM based on the letters of the first names of those in the group.
Declan kindly took the time to visit the infant classroom who had worked on their own engineering designs in Lego which they proudly showed. They had researched the Coffey Group website in advance and had plenty of questions too for Declan! Take a look at their engineering designs below.
