Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize

Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize

What was the Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize?

The Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize supported young people across the UK to test, create and develop new technological solutions to the biggest issues of our time.

As the leaders of tomorrow and the next generation of innovators, we know young people are using their creativity, drive and innovative thinking to tackle the challenges faced by millions across the world, which is why this year we asked 11-16 year olds across the UK to answer the call to action: How can you use technology to create an app, product or service that will make the world a better place, enabling people to live better, live longer, live greener and live together? 

What happened?

40 teams were named as finalists in April 2021, and given access to a virtual Enterprise Academy to develop their ideas, with support from mentors and industry experts.

On 15 July 2021 we announced the winner of the prize, who was awarded £20,000 for their school. We also named three runners-up and the winner of our public vote, the People’s Choice Award.

Why did we do this?

Fostering entrepreneurial spirit among young people will be vital in order to successfully solve some of the greatest challenges of today, as well as supporting a new generation to gain the skills needed for their future work.

Giving young people access to innovation and entrepreneurship schemes early on is a key driver to close these gaps and the Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize aims to do just that by focusing on reaching young people from diverse backgrounds, bridging the gap between young people and innovation.

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Contact Us

This Longitude Prize was delivered by Challenge Works in partnership with

  • Amazon logo

Innovator data

  • The Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize closed to entries on 12th February 2021 with 158 applications from over 500 young people across the UK.
  • The Prize received applications from schools in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
  • Over 80% of the teams that applied for the Prize were from state funded schools and 9% from independent schools.
  • Within the finalist stage of the programme, 75% of teams were from state schools and 17% from independent schools.
  • The 158 teams that applied for the Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize are made up of 518 young people aged 11-16, with 40 teams made up of 132 young people selected for the finalist stage.

Overview of the teams demographics:

  • 57% – Girls
  • 40% – Ethnic Minority
  • 15% – English as additional language
  • 10% – Identifies as have any disability

The top teams

Screenshot of British Sign Language (BSL) translator app

BSL: Educate-2-Translate

Winners: Team Sign Champions, St Paul’s Girls’ School

Their idea is an app that uses AI to teach sign language with sign to audio or text translation capabilities and an expansive learning centre that teaches sign language interactively.

A diagram of Bio Clear in operation in the ocean

BioClear

People’s Choice: Team Elektrica, Wimbledon High School

Their ideas is a spherical robot which operates in water to remove microplastics, detecting them through infrared sensors, trapping them to magnets and allowing purified water to escape via a manta net.

An illustration to show how leaving your Bluetooth on can affect the environment

Bluetooth Pollution Device

Runners-up: Team LABesties, Alderman Peel High School

Our idea is a wearable technology that measures air pollution in your local area and helps give tips on individual action to improve pollution levels.

An illustration shows how insects could digest plastic waste

Plasticivore – insect-powered plastic digester

Runners-up: Team The Real Meal, Liverpool Life Sciences UTC

Our idea is a self-contained digester box, designed for both homes and businesses, that uses mealworm larvae to break down non-recyclable plastic waste. Using sensors, the box can be remotely monitored to ensure optimal conditions for decomposition.

An illustration shows how a product/hardware can record environmental data

Rainforest Dragen Project

Runners-up: Team Rainforest DRAGEN, Mendip Studio School

Our idea is a product/hardware for recording environmental data (a remote data logger) with a focus on rainforests and conservation with a companion website/platform for sharing data, learnings and ultimately enable young people across the world to build their own.

Watch the awards event

Who were the Challenge Judges?

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