Amazon and the UK Civil Aviation Authority Announce Winner of ‘Design a Drone’ Competition

Finalist from Northern Ireland is named UK winner

Contest garnered over 1,700 entries, raising awareness of how to fly drones safely and the potential benefits of the technology

LONDON – 5th JULY 2017 – Amazon, in partnership with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), has today announced the results of the ‘Design a Drone’ competition. Over 1,700 students participated in the competition from across the UK.

Hannah M of Fourtowns Primary School in Ballymena, Northern Ireland was awarded the top spot for designing her Flying Cheetah drone, which would be used by forest rangers to protect cheetahs and other wildlife.

The national winner was selected from the 12 regional finalists and will travel to the Amazon Prime Air Lab in Cambridge, UK, where her design will be exhibited for a year.

Northern Ireland Winner, Hannah M's Flying Cheetah drone

Lea Simpson, Leader of the Frontier Technology Livestreaming Team at the Department for International Development and competition judge, said: “I was really impressed by the quality of the entries, they were full of creativity and anything-is-possible optimism. I believe competitions like these do an important job of sowing early seeds that technology can be a force for good. I have high hope for how this will shape tomorrow’s STEM leaders.” Lea’s team is exploring how technologies like drones can contribute to solving development challenges.

Regional finalists and runners up from across the country were awarded their prizes in special ceremonies during school assemblies. Winning students took home gift baskets of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) prizes. The first place winner in each region also earned a cash donation of £1,000 for their school, to be spent on in-school STEM resources.

The competition helped raise awareness of the CAA’s Drone Code, a simple set of rules and guidelines which outline how to fly drones safely and within the law in the UK.

All primary school students in Years Two to Five in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were eligible to enter the competition. Students were asked to design their interpretation of a delivery drone to serve a humanitarian purpose or improve society, such as first-response medical aid, sending flowers to a loved one who is unwell or delivering toys to children in need.

Jonathan Nicholson, Assistant Director of Communications at the CAA, said: “All the entries were absolutely amazing and it was great to see so many students showing an interest in drones. By the time they are adults, drones could well be playing key roles in everyday life. But for that to happen we need everyone who flies a drone now to do so safely.”

Lauren Kisser, Operations Director at Amazon Prime Air, commented: “I’m delighted that the Design a Drone competition encouraged these students to unleash their creative thinking on how drones can be used to improve society. The entries we received were full of innovative and thoughtful ideas that could very well change the world one day.”

The full Drone Code can be seen at www.dronesafe.uk

Amazon has a Development Centre in Cambridge working on a range of projects including Prime Air, the company’s delivery system designed to safely get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using drones.

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About the CAA
The CAA is the UK's aviation regulator. Its activities include: making sure that the aviation industry meets the highest technical and operational safety standards; preventing holidaymakers from being stranded abroad or losing money because of tour operator insolvency; planning and regulating all UK airspace; and regulating airports, air traffic services and airlines and providing advice on aviation policy. For more information contact the CAA press office on 020 7453 6030 or press.office@caa.co.uk

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfilment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.co.uk/about.