PA’s annual Raspberry Pi Competition promotes STEM education by challenging schoolchildren to invent products and processes that could benefit society using their technology and coding skills.
The theme of this year’s competition, which launched in the UK and Netherlands in October, is applying technology to help create a positive future for everyone as we live through this global pandemic.
This year, Nationwide, Rolls-Royce and Anglia Ruskin University have provided technical support for the teachers and students taking part in the competition. Nationwide and Anglia Ruskin University are running one-to-one “tech drop in” sessions for students, while Rolls-Royce is hosting a webinar for teachers to support their role in the project development.
The full list of judges for the 2021 Raspberry Pi competition is as follows:
Stephen Koch, Executive Director of Platforms, NHS Digital
Dr Phillippa Spencer OBE, Senior Principal Statistician, DSTL
Mark Purcell, Group CIO, Rentokil
Sarah McMath, CEO, Market Operator Services Limited (MOSL)
Judy Kawaguchi, Chief Operating Officer, Tech London Stock Exchange Group
Rosie Toogood, CEO, Legal & General Modular Homes
Dhruv Boruah, Founder, Boruah Foundation
Dominic Lenton, Managing Editor, E&T Magazine
Rik Cross, Director, Raspberry Pi Foundation
Caroline Gorski, Group Director - R2 Data Labs, Rolls-Royce
Andy Lord, Managing Director, London Underground & TfL Engineering
Dr Silvia Cirstea, Deputy Head of School in Computer Sciences, Anglia-Ruskin University
Gary Delooze, CIO, Nationwide Building Society
Professor Paul Monks, Chief Scientific Adviser, BEIS
Jenny Wood, Chief Operating Officer, Services, NatWest Group
Chris Hayman, Director, UK&I Public Sector, Amazon Web Services
Dave Penrith, Former Chief Engineer, Unilever
Neil Dewis, Director Water Service Delivery, Yorkshire Water
The competition will see teams compete across four categories based on their academic years: years 4-6, years 7-9, years 10-11 and years 12-13. Three finalists from each category will be invited to the PA Raspberry Pi Awards Day event, taking place on 26th May 2021.
The judging panel will select a winner from each of the four categories, who will be awarded with £1,000 for their school or college.
Anita Chandraker, Senior Partner at PA Consulting and sponsor for the competition, said: “We are honoured to have individuals from so many fantastic, innovation-led organisations supporting this year’s Raspberry Pi competition. Their collective experience across a diverse range of industries and sectors really exemplifies the amazing things that can be achieved when innovation and technology come together – particularly in these challenging times. Their support and participation will no doubt inspire the students taking part to test their ingenuity in devising new and unexpected solutions to creating a better future for society and business.”
All the details of this year’s competition can be found here. PA will publish the list of finalists later this month.