Five sixth form students recently won £5,000 in a national competition, launched by the UK Space Agency, after developing an idea about using satellites to benefit humans.
The team, named Team Higgs, came up with an idea called ‘Displaced Persons Aid’. They discovered that after a natural disaster, many people are overlooked who are displaced (a person who is forced to leave their home) while people who are injured are supported. Their idea was to make an app and a website that tracks people who register themselves as being displaced using GPS signals to a satellite. The displaced people can also then find out places they can go for safety, support, food and supplies.
The team have since been interviewed for BBC Newcastle and were featured on ‘Today’s North East’ on BBC Newcastle Radio on 18 April.
Next on the agenda is a Dragons Den style event in June where they will present their idea and get advice on how to progress with it.
You can listen to the radio interview (1:27:20 on the broadcast) here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p062cfcx