Cambourne Village College student wins national award

A student from Cambourne Village College has been crowned as a winner in the prestigious Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.

Rishan Sharma won the ‘Junior Engineering 2023’ category in the finals of The Competition, with their project ‘Blind Vision’.

The aim of this project was to use machine learning and computer vision to support those who are blind or have limited eyesight. ‘Blind Vision’ aims support those who have difficulties differentiating between distinct objects by informing the user of what is in front of them using a camera, speaker, button and Raspberry Pi.

Talking about their project, Rishan said:

“I hope this project can be taken to a manufacturing level, where it can be used globally. I think it can help people with vision impairments - who may not have enough money for an expensive Google Lens or a stem cell eye repair, to see again.  

Dr Hilary Leevers, Chief Executive of Engineering UK, which runs The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition, added:

“Congratulations to Rishan on their award. This is a brilliant achievement. We’ve been really impressed with all the entries received this year, but this project stood out as being particularly innovative.”

The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition aims to recognise and reward young people's achievements in all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and provide them with the opportunity to build their skills and confidence in project-based work