KS4 winners of the Colchester Zoological Society and Free the Bears STEM Design Contest 2026

Posted On: 05/05/26

Alexander Heaven and Monty Down are the KS4 winners of the Colchester Zoological Society's STEM Design Challenge. The brief for the international competition was to design an enclosure for the Free the Bears Luang Wildlife Sanctuary. 

Alexander and Monty collaborated to combine their individual design concepts into a single, cohesive project. Their work involved in-depth research into the needs of multiple stakeholders and the primary users of a bear rehabilitation centre in Laos.

They presented their initial designs to a zoo keeper and then refined their work in response to the professional stakeholder feedback received.

Congratulations to Alexander and Monty for this impressive achievement.