An aspiring engineer from Abergavenny has taken part in a national initiative highlighting the benefits of fuel cell and hydrogen technology.

Eight-year-old Eric Darnborough, a Cross Ash Primary School pupil, was among 13 young inventors and programmers in Arcola Energy’s Hydrogen Hack initiative at Monmouth School for Boys.

The youngsters used software and hardware to transform everyday items as part of the Schools Hydrogen Challenge, Arcola’s long-running, not-for-profit education programme.

The youngsters, in their small groups, used RPi, Arduino and a Fuel Cell to make their chosen items do something new.

Teacher Lyndsay Hope, from Monmouth School for Boys, ran the event with support from mentors from industry, including Abergavenny’s Stuart Ball.

The youngsters were taken for a spin in a Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car on the opening day of the week-long hack.

Llandrindod Wells-based Riversimple, a manufacturer of hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles, provided two mentors and also brought along a car which the company is developing.

Thirteen-year-old Elic Wales, from Ross-on-Wye, teamed up with 12-year-old Tom Thornton from Berry Hill to design an atmospheric air pollution sensor for a car. They won the Best use of Hydrogen section in the national awards.

Another group at the Monmouth event created a ketchup-supplying robot which was awarded the fun prize by the judging panel in London.

Mrs Hope believes the initiative offered a creative, innovative and fun way for the youngsters to learn more about clean energy.

The Hydrogen Hack took place at 10 regional centres across the UK.

Mrs Hope added, “I was hugely impressed with the projects at the Monmouth centre because the youngsters worked with advanced hardware and software.

“Their attention to detail was first-class and the aspiring engineers quickly got to grips with the new software and hardware, and worked together with maturity on their projects.”

Mrs Hope is now preparing for a Computer Science Fair which is being held at Monmouth School for Boys on Sunday, November 19, from 1pm to 5pm.

For more information about the event, which is open to all, visit: tinyurl.com/wyehack.