Lynmore Primary School pupils win at EPro8 engineering regional final

Siwan Lloyd-Jones, 10, (left) Levi Massan, 11, Theo Bennett, 10, and Demi Yang, 10. Photo/Stephen Parker

Four pupils at Lynmore Primary School are proud to call themselves EPro8 champions after completing a series of engineering and problem-solving challenges.

The group of Year 6 pupils took out the title at the regional final of EPro8, an engineering and technology competition which sees pupils do a series of challenges for points.

The group placed first in the Rotorua heats in May, third in the semifinals and first in the grand final held at the start of July at Matamata Intermediate.

It was made up of Demi Yang, 10, Siwan Lloyd-Jones, 10, Theo Bennett, 10, and Levi Massan, 11.

In the finals the team was given a notebook with four sets of challenges. Each challenge included seven different problems or activities ranging in difficulty.

The teams had two-and-a-half hours to do as many challenges as possible and get the most points.

Demi said the hardest challenge was making an invisible limbo bar. The team used a light beam as the limbo bar which would go off if touched.

"I really liked EPro8 because it gives you a chance to do something you don't usually," Demi said.

Theo said he was really happy with the win.

"We had the lead for the whole time but we were nervous someone might overtake us at the last minute."

He encouraged others to try the challenge and said it was "a really cool experience".

"It's enjoyable seeing the progress and it's really fun to be there."

Levi said the challenge helped him think outside the box.

"I like how it makes you think about how you can put things together and make it work."

In preparation for the competition, the group practised using mock challenges and electronic simulator on the EPro8 website.

Siwan said the group couldn't do every challenge in the time limit so focused on the ones they were most skilled in.

"It's really nice having to work in a team and it's enjoyable figuring out the electronics."