STEM Entrepreneur

One of our Sixth Form students has received an Atherton Award, which recognises outstanding female entrepreneurship in STEM.

The award was created in 2019 by entrepreneur Amber Atherton and has since been launched in over 30 schools, both across the UK and in the US. It aims to celebrate and encourage female entrepreneurs and to inspire more young women to pursue careers in STEM.

Scarlett in the Upper Sixth won this year’s award for her design of a simulation that demonstrates the effect of centripetal forces on satellite motion and the impact of changing its orbital radius. She came up with idea after noticing how challenging it could be to effectively show satellite motion in her Physics class labs, compared to other concepts with more straightforward practical demonstrations. Amber commended Scarlett for testing her simulation through feedback from current students before beginning to monetise it, to ensure that there was market demand for it.

“With this start-up capital, and in our mentoring sessions, I’m excited to see it go through some more iterations of user testing. South Hampstead girls have entrepreneurial spirit in bucket loads and I can’t wait to watch, and maybe one day invest, in the incredible businesses you might build!”

As part of her prize, Scarlett had the opportunity to attend a mentoring session with winners from other schools – whose ideas ranged from soap manufacturing to water purification straws – and received mentorship advice from Amber.  Although her code is currently in its earlier stages, Scarlett hopes that with further development and support from the Atherton Award, it will become a useful, interactive educational tool for Physics students.