Prestigous award for Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi pupil with his ground breaking Porta LAB design

A pupil from Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi has won a prestigous prize for his design of a product to detect malaria in a more efficient and economical way.

Jacob Davies, who is in Year 13 studying A Level Design and Technology Product Design, won the overall prize during the UK wide Triumph Design Awards held at Triumph’s headquarters in Hinckley, Leicestershire on Saturday, 02 July 2022.

The competition was open to 16-18 year old UK students of relevant STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) and entrants were challenged to design a product to solve a real world problem. Jacob Davies was praised for his Design and Technology A level project, called ‘Porta LAB’, which is a portable blood centrifuge to enable easier diagnosis of malaria in remote areas.

Jacob Davies, who hopes to study Computer Science at University in the next academic year, said: “The portable blood centrifuge is a device that is designed to allow health professionals to more easily and cheaply diagnose malaria in remote regions. It is completely hand-powered, lightweight, and has a small form-factor which makes it cheap, portable, and means it can be used without access to electricity.

“The awards were a great experience. I enjoyed seeing the Triumph motorbike factory and witnessing British engineering and manufacture, together with meeting the other competitors and learning about their designs. I was surprised to win, as many of the other projects were very impressive.

“I have been offered assistance with filing a patent on the product, which I hope this will help me go further and make the product a reality.”

Emyr James, Head of Design Faculty at Ysgol Uwchradd Aberteifi, said: “Jacob’s product is a simple innovative use of self-powered centrifugal forces. Following and iterative design process, Jacob identified the problem and then set about designing, modelling and testing his designs to enable him to come up with a functioning outcome. He showed excellent innovative thinking and an excellent work attitude to get his design to work. It was great to be present at the Triumph factory to witness Jacob being recognised for his simple innovative thinking and being presented with the overall winner’s trophy.”

Councillor Wyn Thomas, Ceredigion County Council Cabinet Member for Schools, Lifelong Learning and Skills, added: “Many congratulations to Jacob Davies for his fantastic achievement. Innovation and progressiveness in STEM is crucial and we are extremely proud of Jacob’s achievement on the national stage. I would also like to thank all our fantastic teachers who ensure our pupils get fantastic opportunities to develop and explore these subjects.”

Design engineers from Triumph Motorcycles shortlisted 21 finalists from across the UK to exhibit their work during the prestigious grand final. The competition attracted a huge variety of innovative ideas. The judges were looking for evidence in 6 key areas: Engineering, Innovation, Corporate responsibility, Communication, Visual design and Commercial awareness.

More information on the Triumph Awards can be found on their website: https://triumphdesignawards.co.uk/