BUDDING young inventors showed ‘ingenuity’ after going head-to-head in a challenging technology task.

Schools across Furness took part in the Technology Tournament Challenge which was organised by the Rotary Club of Barrow at Hawcoat Park Social Club.

Pupils were set the task of designing and building a flashing beacon akin to those placed on Mercy Ships which supply medical care to people in difficult-to-access areas of the world.

The floating hospitals, which has long been supported by the Rotary, deliver free safe medical care and humanitarian aid across the world.

Once a Mercy Ship docks into a port in Africa the message needs to go out to surrounding land to invite people with sick and injured to attend the ship.

Getting the message out is done by a flashing beacon situated on a hill which can be seen for miles around.

So, with a bag of the essential bits and pieces, the technology challenge students were required to design and build the flashing beacon.

The foundation group students had to produce a light connected to a switched electrical circuit which had a device to turn the light on and off to make it flash, the light being at the beacon’s highest point.

Points were awarded for each flash up to 20.

For the Intermediate students no points were awarded for the first 20 flashes, but one point was awarded for each following flash up to a maximum of 40.

The judges, all Rotarians with engineering backgrounds, also awarded points for planning and teamwork, design analysis, communication of ideas, manufacture of the design, rigidity of the structure and reliability of the flashing mechanism.

Rotarian Mike Cumming, who organised the event along with Ted Fenton and chief judge Mike Lovell, said it had been a successful venture with the competitors showing ingenuity.

The Foundation class was won by Dowdales (77) ahead of Chetwynde (65) and the Intermediate section by Walney (74) followed by Furness Academy (72).

The trophies were presented by Barrow MP Simon Fell.