The winners of a major competition, which saw students produce essays discussing potential threats and hostile opportunities – including cyber vulnerabilities and disinformation campaigns – has been announced by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
The winner of the competition’s cash prize was Thomas Bradbury, University of Exeter, who will receive a commemorative award for his essay, ‘Future of the Arctic’.
The joint runners-up in the competition were Richard Brown, Northumbria University, who submitted ‘Wearable, implantable, medical devices (WIMDs) of Change’ and Kirsty Goodman, University College London, who wrote about Blockchain-Enabled Self-Sovereign Identity. This was followed by ‘A Pandemic Enabled by Technological Advance’ by Laurence Legon from University of Warwick.
Head of Exploration Division, Linda Knutsen, said: “The high calibre of these thought-provoking entries gave us new perspectives and a unique insight into what may be important to the next generation of budding scientists.
The ability to prepare for a variety of alternate futures is at the heart of everything we do and is vital in keeping our armed forces, and the public, safe.”
Programme Adviser and competition organiser, Cayleigh Galloway, added: “We are delighted at the quality and novel ideas that came across in the essays. I would like to congratulate all those who submitted their work giving us their visions of future threats and opportunities. These entries showed a huge amount of interest and enthusiasm about science and technology in the next generation of innovators.”
To read the top essays, visit: www.gov.uk