Budding inventors from six schools across the East Midlands took part in the Invent! competition at Snibston Discovery Park in Coalville. In the morning, six hands-on creative STEM workshops took place and students were building brains, designing plants of the future and making their own films. Young people aged between 4 and 14 showcased their inventions to a panel of judges headed up by Gareth Jones. There were some fantastic inventions in categories such as ‘Pop a balloon with a flick, ‘A Problem Solved’ and ‘Recycled Orchestra’. The judges then faced some tricky deliberations, and the air of anticipation was building. Finally the results were in, and first of all last year’s winners from Keyworth Primary School awarded their own special prize for the invention they liked the best, and this went to Burbage Primary School in Buxton for their problem solving solutions for Africa. Next to be announced was the runners-up prize and this went to Keyworth Primary School who had designed a very impressive ‘Pop A Balloon with a Flick’ incorporating a windmill and mini cut outs of their teachers attached to dominoes! Then, the winners were announced... Ivanhoe Community College had wowed everyone with their ingenious chain reaction machine, incorporating a match, balloons, marbles, pendulums to name but a few! The winners will now be treated to a ‘Grand Engineering Day Out’ in the Autumn.