A school boy was so moved by news reports from the Nepal Earthquake in 2015 about the lack of finance for helicopters which was hampering the search and rescue operation that he decided to design a drone which could do the job for a fraction of the price. Using state of the art technology, Joshua Bradnam, 19, who studied Design and Technology A level at St David’s College, was inspired to create a search and aid drone. With a 3D printed monocoque body and carbon fibre arms, the drone is able to carry out a vast range of functions from searching for casualties to transferring first aid equipment.
Joshua used Computer Aided Design (CAD) throughout the whole process for which he has been awarded a National Innovation Award from the WJEC exam board. He recently visited the Senedd in Cardiff where he received his award from Kirsty Williams, the Education Minister for Wales.
Joshua is using his CAD experience this year working for a hi-tech design company in Wrexham designing helicopter covers, before starting a degree course in Mechanical Engineering at Lancaster University.
‘’The inspirational teaching by Martin O’Leary, the CAD teacher, is undoubtedly what gave me the skills and opportunity to excel in both innovation and design’’, said Joshua. ‘’I believe that the support from St David’s College took my project from an idea to a feasible solution for a lack of helicopters in an international crisis’’.
St David’s College has had pupils winning awards at the WJEC’s National Innovation Ceremony for the last 15 years and this year was the only school to receive 2 awards.