At the end of last term, fifty Year 10-13 students from twenty-two different state and independent schools from across London travelled to City of London School to participate in an air pollution workshop led by Dyson engineers.

To start the workshop, they introduced us to the design process used by Dyson engineers and challenged us to design and build solutions to air pollution in school, our community, or at home. In teams of five working with students we had never met, we discussed several possibilities and after perfecting an idea, made a prototype out of Dyson parts and other materials. Finally, we each presented our designs in a quick pitch to explain the function of our prototypes.

It was amazing to see members of the LSEN (London Schools Eco Network) in person after having been on Zoom for so long! We were able to meet many students from schools across London and shared our different approaches to climate action in our respective areas. I really enjoyed learning about Dyson’s approaches to air purification and using that knowledge to develop my own product.

Thank you to Dyson and all the teachers involved in organising this, especially the fantastic Miss Chapman from Highgate School who runs LSEN, and to the staff at City of London School for hosting and providing amazing food (which was entirely vegan!).

-Alexandra, LSEN student, Year 10