The annual awards give undergraduates the opportunity to present their ideas to influential industry names, with categories including defence technology, innovation and healthcare.

George entered his idea into the Future Mobility Challenge, sponsored by McLaren, which asked students to come up with solutions to the following questions:

• What innovative ideas do you have to electrify the future of the automotive industry?
• What new designs can you propose to be introduced cost-effectively into future McLaren road cars or across the wider automotive industry?

His idea was to use synthetic jet impingement cooling to cool down the batteries of electric vehicles rather than the fluid cooling systems that are currently used. This innovative design would direct jets of air directly into the battery cells, making the vehicles lighter and therefore more energy-efficient.

George’s 1,000-word essay on his design landed him in the final five out of almost 5,000 entries. In usual circumstances the finalists would have visited the McLaren Technology Centre to present their solutions. Instead, they talked about their ideas via a video call to the McLaren team.

On reaching the final stage George said: “Although I didn’t manage to win my category, I received some really positive feedback and I’m proud of myself for getting this far. Overall, it was a great experience and I would definitely recommend it to anyone thinking of entering next year.”