Technology and Design exhibition

The bi-annual Technology and Design exhibition will be held in the Market Place Armagh on the 12th June and will run through to the 18th July. The theme of this year's exhibition will focus on CAD/CAM products and drawings. As previous we would like a contribution from every school so please bring along something on the HoD day. We really want this exhibition to be a great success and we depend upon your co-operation in achieving this. Should you have any questions about the type of product required please contact myself (Martin) or Averil at Clounagh.

Technology Head of Department Conference ‘Raising Achievement in Technology’.

This year's Technology Head of Department Conference will be held on:

Tuesday 9th June 2009 at the Clounagh Centre 9.30 – 3.30
(Lunch will be available)

The aims of the day are:

• To disseminate and promote good practice in Technology and Design
• To identify opportunities for innovation in the Technology curriculum

Further details will be confirmed on the blog later next week.

Health and Safety Training - Milling Machine

From the 26th May to the 5th June the Clounagh Centre will be hosting training on the safe use and operation of the milling machine. The training will be led by Roy MCMaw whom most of you may already know from the centre lathe and cirucular saw courses. There are still some places available. If you are interested and haven't already registered for the course please contact us for more information.

Drumglass College and St Catherine's College STEM Events

Both Drumglass High School and St Catherine's College recently ran a number of STEM events. In linking with local primary schools and outside agencies such as Sentinus, the respective Technology departments were able to deliver a number of high quality experiences and events for all pupils involved. The overall aim of these particular STEM programmes was to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths within post primary as well as primary schools. Bridge building projects, sketching and drawing, hydrogen power awareness and rocket design are just a few of the various events that took place over the second and third terms. If you are interested in running any STEM events in your school, click on the read more link to have a look at the slideshow. For further info contact the Clounagh Centre.

112 working circuits - now online.

Over the years Technology and Design teachers have made great use of 112 working circuits. This is a fantastic resource which was compiled by Maurice Lynch from the WELB. Thanks to Maurice, we have now published these circuits online. See www.clounagh.org/TD section for access.

Make your music public! MP3 player project.

The Technology team at Clounagh have been very busy developing an MP3 speaker dock at a very affordable price. Details of the project and circuit can be found at clounagh.org CAD/CAM - section 16. The cicuit costs less than £1 to make with the bog standard speaker (which you can upgrade). So go on - get rocking!

National Award for St. Colman's College student

James Morgan (Kilcoo), winner of the Young Engineer for Britain regional finals held in the Odyssey Arena Belfast last June progressed to compete against other regional finalists at the ‘Big Bang’ Young Engineers and National Science Competition Fair in London 4th-6th March.
The event is a showcase of the highest level Engineering and Science projects carried out by students throughout the UK and Ireland.

Following three days of intensive judging James was awarded ‘Young Engineer for Britain National Winner for Design, Innovation and Presentation 2008-2009’.
James received a certificate, a crystal trophy and a cheque for £1000. In addition James was awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ prize for outstanding work from the National Science Competition in the technology category.

For his major A Level technology project James designed and manufactured a full size tractor mounted hydraulic power rake to remove large stones from ploughed fields or lawns prior to sowing.
The unit is mounted within a 7ft tractor link box and is powered by a hydraulic motor system. This motor drives a robust system of chain linked steel rakes which dislodge and pull all but the smallest stones into the link box. In doing so the machine also aerates and conditions the soil. The span of the system covers the tractor tyre tracks. The operator can then hydraulically elevate the power rake and tip the stones wherever hard fill is required.

This product was inspired by experience of gathering stones from fields manually and with only slight modifications the prototype should have great market potential. James is researching patents for his design.

As part of his display James presented a short video of the machine in operation. The judges were very impressed with the video and the innovative design of the prototype. James’s confident and knowledgeable presentation under rigorous questioning was another factor in winning the award.