A prize-winning design by a team from Overton Grange School that helps people fight off life-threatening disease malaria is to be presented at the Houses of Parliament.

The group, comprising of past and present pupils from the school in Stanley Road, won first place with their project at The Big Bang Fair earlier in March.

After spending a year on mosquiNO for Mosquitoes, they developed a body butter that effectively repelled potentially malaria-carrying mosquitoes when tested.

Now team member Elizabeth Cole has been invited to Parliament to present it to MPs and employing engineers as part of Tomorrow’s Engineer’s Week – running from November 5 to 9.

She said: “It’s been a big commitment but it was worth it. It’s been a unique and exciting opportunity in an area I enjoy.”

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The team at The Big Bang Fair in March, held at NEC Birmingham. Photo: Overton Grange School

The product was designed by Elizabeth alongside alumni pupils Mojiz Mirza and Archie Milroy-Mason and first shown at the Youth Grand Challenges science competition last December.

They finished second in the Bill Gates-funded contest, and went on a two-week residental STEM program at Imperial College London with the International Youth Science Forum.

Further testing at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine then saw it showcased at The Big Bang Fair, said to be the largest STEM event for young people in the UK.

They defeated competition from Cambridge, Guernsey, and Northern Ireland to take top spot in the category for intermediate science.

The team will soon also exhibit their work at the World Humanitarian Innovation Day in Basel, Switzerland.