Yago Prat, student at Caxton College: ‘I like solving real problems’

The Sixth Form student at this British school won the award for the best prototype presented at the EF Global Leadership Summit held recently in Berlin.

Eight hundred students from all over the world came together for three days in the German capital to participate in an international educational programme that, in this year’s edition, aimed to find solutions and raise awareness about the impact of water on society.

Throughout the summit, the students attended inspiring talks by world experts on water resources and were organised into teams to identify social and environmental problems resulting from water shortages and pollution and to look for solutions.

The international team comprising the Valencian student Yago Prat presented the project that won first prize at the event. Their prototype consists of an ankle cuff with a sensor so that if divers swim within a certain distance of a coral reef, it ejects a stream of water to propel them away from the reef, protecting this natural resource that is essential to the marine habitat from damage by tourists.

‘The sensors can read the distance between the divers and the coral or other marine life in the area through a system using ultrasound testing technique. If the distance is less than a preestablished amount, the cuff, worn on the diver’s ankle, begins to vibrate. And if the diver swims closer, it ejects a stream of water containing minerals and nutrients for fish and coral that propels the diver away from the reef. It also has a QR code that allows the user to learn more about the local flora and fauna’, said this Caxton College student, whose intention is to study Aerospace Engineering or a double degree in Mathematics and Physics.

Coral Cuff, which is the name given to the prototype, will be on display at the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm for a year. ‘I spoke with the teammates who worked on the project with me about looking into the possibility of patenting our prototype and proposed launching a startup, since we think there could be real market demand for it’, said Yago Prat.

Caxton College was the only Spanish school with a small group of students at the prestigious international event and that had the satisfaction of having one of its students on the winning team, which was made up of students from around the world. Also, these young people first had to qualify for the event through a preliminary round consisting of an oral presentation.

‘I’m very pleased to have been able to be a part of this experience and especially to have been recognised with such an important award whilst being surrounded by people who are very special to me, and who supported me throughout the difficult competition process. I’m grateful that my family, friends and teachers encouraged me to participate. What I truly value as a student are challenges, solving real and practical problems, and this is what helped me to feel at ease in this academic programme run by Education First’, said Prat.