A huge well done to our sixth form students who won the Birmingham Energy Institute (BEI) competition for new heating solutions.
This academic year, UoB School were awarded a grant from The Royal Society – the world’s oldest independent scientific academy, dedicated to promoting excellence in science – to allow a group of sixth form students to explore and learn more about the function of air-source heat pumps, performing various experiments to compare the heat pump with other more traditional routes of heating the home.
Students researched the function of the heat pumps, designed their own prototype apparatus, and tested the usability of their refrigerant apparatus at the UoB Chemical Engineering Department. The team also performed an experiment on a model immersion heater to record its efficiency.
Students were then invited to the Birmingham Energy Institute (BEI), alongside industry partners within the energy field, to present their new solution and to discuss the urgency for a new heating solution for the UK. The team and their innovative design wowed the panel of judges and they won the competition. Congratulations to the winning team, Tara P, Lucja M, Hannah T, and Max R.
The aim is that eventually this project will be repeated in other schools around the country to improve education of an emerging technology to fight the current climate crisis.
