Wallace designer is shortlisted for prestigious award

A STUDENT from Wallace High represented Northern Ireland this week when he flew to London for the final of a competition to design the ‘Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering’ trophy.

Timothy Irvine, from Moira, is one of ten young designers who were shortlisted for the prize.

He is currently studying for his A Levels and hopes to go to Queen’s Belfast to study engineering.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He called his design ‘Spire’ and described how his design portrays the structure, creativity and diverse nature of engineering.

Timothy joined the other finalists in London to present their prototyped trophy to the judges at a special event at the Science Museum. The winning design will be turned into reality and presented to the overall winner of the £1million QE Prize for Engineering by the Queen herself at Buckingham Palace in June next year. The winning designer will also receive a prize of £5,000.

Speaking ahead of his trip to London this week, Timothy said he was delighted to be shortlisted. “I am very thankful for the opportunity to have an input into the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering competition,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to attending the ceremony in London and getting the chance to meet fellow designers from all over the United Kingdom.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Chairman of the QE Prize Trustees, Lord Browne of Madingley said: “We have had an excellent response to the Create the Trophy competition and were inundated with hundreds of creative designs from all over the country. I am delighted that so many young people were inspired by this unique engineering challenge.”

Ian Blatchford, director of the Science Museum and former deputy director of the V&A, said: “We set a challenge for young people to come up with an iconic trophy design that best embodies the wonder of modern engineering and reflects the merging worlds of science, art, design and engineering. Each of the finalists has shown real imagination and talent - making the job of choosing a winner extremely difficult.”