A teenage girl has won the UK Young Engineer of the Year award with a smart device that converts sign language into English and can even call emergency services independently.

Ranita Ariyibi, a 15-year-old student at Colchester County High School for Girls in Essex, has scooped the top prize and been crowned UK Young Engineer of the Year 2023 for her invention of a device that helps hearing and deaf people communicate more easily.

InterSign acts as electronic interpreter between British Sign Language (BSL) and English, meaning it can see a sign then give the meaning in English, both spoken and written on screen. Similar to smart speakers such as Alexa, it has the additional advantage of being able to take action. So, signing “help” could trigger the device to call emergency services or a family member.

Originally working with a partner before progressing the project alone, Ariyibi has spent hundreds of hours researching options, designing and coding the device. She used open-source software and a range of approaches to create InterSign, and 3D printed an early prototype. The engineer wants to continue to develop and refine it to address issues communicating with deaf people and provide smart assistance.

“Huge congratulations to Ranita on her UK Young Engineer of the Year award,” said Hilary Leevers, chief executive of Engineering UK, which runs the competition. “She has worked incredibly hard on her InterSign project, trying different approaches and coding to create a device that does what she set out to achieve. The judges were really impressed with her creative ideas, problem solving and determination, all important elements in engineering. We’re delighted to see so many girls have entered the competition this year, demonstrating that engineering really is accessible and interesting to everyone. Ranita undoubtedly has a very bright future ahead of her and we hope her achievements will inspire more young people, and especially girls, to develop a passion for engineering and technology.”

Accepting her award, Ariyibi said: “It’s absolutely crazy. I never imagined that I’d be here today. It’s been such a long process and I’m so grateful for this opportunity and to have won this award. I think having the showcase of all the competitors at the Big Bang Fair is really inspiring, seeing how young people can do amazing things.”

Rishan Sharma, a student from Cambourne Village College in Cambridge, won the Junior Engineering category with their project Blind Vision.

Muhammad Shah, a student from Queen Elizabeth’s School in Barnet, London, won the Intermediate Engineering category with their project Working from Home: NEA Exercise.

And Ashwin Sridhar, also a student at Queen Elizabeth’s School, won the Senior Engineering category with their project Retromate: Smart Device for the Elderly.

The UK Young Scientist of the Year was also announced at the Big Bang Fair. Kaycee Deery, age 15 from St Mary’s College in Derry, won the award for her natural sunscreen preparations project.