Over 100 Further Education students were in Foyle Arena last Thursday to show off their STEM related projects at the 2016 Best Awards.
The BEST Awards (Business and Education through Skills and Training) is a competition run annually by Colleges NI. Now in its 6th year, the BEST Awards were created to recognise the excellence and diversity of STEM project based learning in Northern Ireland further education (FE) colleges and to provide an annual showcase and competition for students to present their project work.
The Best Awards provide opportunities for younger and more mature students alike and they are intended to be part of the development process for students preparing for their careers and in this respect, the opportunities to further develop their skills in planning, problem solving, innovative thinking, communication and presentation are key outcomes of the experience.
The standard was as high as ever, with entries from all six Northern Ireland regional colleges.
The winners this year were as follows:
Creative Industries (sponsored by the Department for Communities): Mobile Aircraft Rescue Copter (MARC) – Southern Regional College
Sinead McGreevy was getting a lot of attention with her search and rescue drone MARC. #Bestawards2016 pic.twitter.com/KV1Oi8KbAH
— MATRIX NI (@MATRIX_NI) May 26, 2016
Life Sciences (sponsored by Norbrook): Antibacterial effects of honey – South Eastern Regional College
Emilio, Andrew & Jack from SERC in Bangor with study into antibacterial properties of honey @CollegesNI BEST Awards pic.twitter.com/NhdF95oHWw
— Claire Burgoyne (@claireburgoyne) May 26, 2016
Engineering 16-18 year old (sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering): Automatic portable cattle feeder – North West Regional College
Engineering 19+ year old (sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering): Multi-purpose tractor loader – North West Regional College
Winners of both Engineering Categories at #BestAwards2016 NWRC students Olivia (16-18) & Andrew(19+) @CollegesNI pic.twitter.com/ZqdjjCPl48
— NWRC (@mynwrc) May 26, 2016
Innovation (sponsored by the Department for the Economy): Adbusters – Southern Regional College
Visual Design: Orchard Pig – Southern Regional College
The very talented Paulina Lisek shows off her Orchard Pig branding project. #Bestawards2016 pic.twitter.com/i3wyEeJBfj
— MATRIX NI (@MATRIX_NI) May 26, 2016
Communication (sponsored by City & Guilds): “Into the Unknown” – Southern Regional College
Entrepreneurial (sponsored by the Department for the Economy): Perform Analysis of Rugby Academy – Belfast Metropolitan College
Pictures of our winners from yesterday’s #bestawards2016! 👏 pic.twitter.com/LUt8rPOoRh
— Belfast Met (@bfastmet) May 27, 2016
Built Environment (sponsored by RPS Group): Energy Advice to Households – North West Regional College
Winners of the Built Environment Award Sean & Seosamh from NWRC @CollegesNI #Bestawards2016 Project on energy advice pic.twitter.com/RZ0nOk7ogC
— NWRC (@mynwrc) May 26, 2016
Software (sponsored by m-hance software): Belfast CAB website – Belfast Metropolitan College
Stephen McShannock developed a website for citizens advice Belfast – great job! #Bestawards2016 pic.twitter.com/pXYj2R113Z
— MATRIX NI (@MATRIX_NI) May 26, 2016
Most Supportive Lecturer (sponsored by GTCNI): Dr Danny Laverty – North West Regional College
Recognised as ‘Most Supportive Lecturer’ #Bestawards2016 is our Head of School Science & Technology Danny Laverty pic.twitter.com/HapDdevuIZ
— NWRC (@mynwrc) May 26, 2016
Overall 16-18 year old winner (sponsored by the Department for the Economy): Lambing Station – Southern Regional College
Runner up 16-18 year old (sponsored by OCNNI): Antibiotics lifespan in veterinary industry – Southern Regional College
Congratulations to Amy Anderson who won Runner Up 16-18 age category #bestawards2016@srcchat@ocnni@CollegesNIpic.twitter.com/MzeIJv9cy5
— Martin Flynn (@martin_ocnni) May 26, 2016
Overall 19+ winner (sponsored by PKF-FPM): Happy Nappy – Southern Regional College
Runner up 19+ (sponsored by the NI Engineering Training Council): Effluxus – North West Regional College
Runner Up in the overall 19+ Category #Bestawards2016 is NWRC HND Art student Aislinn Cassidy @CollegesNI pic.twitter.com/yUwpTvLyiJ
— NWRC (@mynwrc) May 26, 2016