Designed to inspire young people into engineering through the medium of chocolate, the competition encourages entrants to ‘See More’ by highlighting the role of engineering in brands and items that feature heavily in our day-to-day lives.
16 year-old Young impressed judges, including former Great British Bake Off (GBBO) contestant and aerospace engineer, Andrew Smyth and Mondelez International engineer, Emma Mcleod, with her space-themed entry, ‘Rocket Fuel.’ Combining a “mix of moulds, shapes, textures and food engineering techniques with delicious ingredients,” Young’s “truly impressive” concept included popping candy, marshmallows, milky moons and crunchy crater biscuits encased in a Cadbury Dairy Milk rocket-shaped mould.
She said: “I was so excited when I saw the competition. I’ve always been curious about the world and I like to think about the engineering that actually makes things possible. I love chocolate and had loads of fun coming up with my idea. Meeting the engineers today and visiting the chocolate factory is something I’ll never forget.”
Emma McLeod, research principal for process technology at Mondelez International, added: “Catherine had clearly considered how to make the product exciting to look at, enjoyable to eat and interesting to create – a great example of how exciting food and drink engineering can be. The drawings and description of the rocket really impressed me both as a chocolate lover and an engineer.”
Chief executive of IET, Nigel Fine, also commented: “We received hundreds of entries to the #ISeeMore competition, which captured the imagination of budding young engineers. Catherine’s entry really stood out for its creativity and the ability for it to be commercialised. She had really thought through how to engineer the bar in real life. We hope this competition has inspired a host of young people to think about engineering as a future career.”
Fellow judge Smyth said: “There are no limits to a child’s imagination, but it’s rarely brought to life in front of their eyes. I was delighted to judge this competition - the calibre and creativity was fantastic. Catherine is a worthy winner because she really delved in to the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind food engineering, from flavours to shape and even the packaging design.”