Lancashire pupil’s solution for frosty cars, ‘Con Bot’, Prototype unveiled!

Yusra, a home educated student, from Lancashire, submitted her engineering idea to Primary Engineer’s annual UK STEM competition which asks pupils aged 3 –19 the question “If you were an engineer, what would you do?” in 2025.

She was recognised as one of the winner in her year group at the Lancashire award ceremony, one of 25 regional UK events, in 2025.

Her solution is a smart and thoughtful idea based on a problem familiar to anyone who travels in a car or bus. Condensation on the inside of windows can be annoying and at times difficult to clear. A demister works on a windscreen but not on side windows. This sparked her idea for a small robot that could move across the glass and clear the mist as it goes.

Each year Industry and University partners of Primary Engineer choose a pupil’s idea to build into a Prototype and to be revealed a year later at the regional awards ceremony.

Alexander Dennis selected Yusra’s idea to life during the 2025-2026 academic year. The Alexander Dennis ProtoTeam welcomed Yusra and her family to their Skelmersdale site and kept her involved as the build progressed. It was great to see it unveiled during the award ceremony.

The finished prototype was officially unveiled on 14th May at the Lancashire regional award ceremony hosted at at the Engineering Innovation Centre at The University of Lancashire.

The 2026/27 Competition is Officially OPEN so get involved to experience the fun! Register for full competition access and resources here: https://leadersaward.com/resource-area-registration/

Primary Engineer Public Exhibitions and Award Ceremonies continue all over the UK through to July, with thousands of pupils engineering ideas being displayed for all to see. Find out more: https://leadersaward.com/exhibitions-and-events/