Winners of the prestigious Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition were announced last week at an awards ceremony which took place at
The Big Bang Fair.
Ranita Ariyibi, a 15-year old student at Colchester County High School for Girls, scooped the top prize and has been crowned
UK Young Engineer of the Year 2023 for her invention of a device that enables hearing and deaf people to communicate more easily.
InterSign acts as electronic interpreter between British Sign Language (BSL) and English, meaning it can see a sign then give the meaning in English – both spoken and written on screen. Similar to smart speakers like Alexa, it has the additional advantage of being able to take action. So, signing ‘help’ could trigger the device to call emergency services or contact a family member.
Originally working with a partner before progressing the project alone, Ranita has spent hundreds of hours researching options, designing and coding the device. She used open-source software and a range of different approaches to create InterSign and 3-D printed an early prototype. The young engineer, spurred on by the award, now wants to continue to develop and refine it to address issues communicating with deaf people and provide smart assistance.
Dr Hilary Leevers, chief executive of EngineeringUK, which runs
The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition, said: “Huge congratulations to Ranita on her
UK Young Engineer of the Year award. She has worked incredibly hard on her InterSign project, trying different approaches and coding solutions to create a device that does what she set out to achieve. The judges were really impressed with her creative ideas, problem solving and determination – all important elements in engineering.
“We are delighted to see so many girls have entered the competition this year – demonstrating that engineering really is accessible and interesting to everyone. Ranita undoubtedly has a very bright future ahead of her and we hope her achievements will inspire more young people, and especially girls, to develop a passion for engineering and technology.”
Ranita said: “It is absolutely crazy, I never imagined that I would be here today. It has been such a long process and I am so grateful for this opportunity and to have won this award. I think having the showcase of all the competitors at
The Big Bang Fair is really inspiring, seeing how young people can do amazing things.”
To find out more about The Big Bang Competition and all the 2023 winners visit the website
www.thebigbang.org.uk/competition-winners here.