The competition was hosted by North London Grammar School, with support from Queen Mary University of London, while King’s College London hosted the awards ceremony. Judges were drawn from leading universities and industry, according to the school’s headteacher.

A gold medal from Uganda

The Olympiad’s overall winner in the STEM Lesson Presentation category was Roshan Aitham Karoobi, a 13-year-old Senior One student at Light Academy Secondary School in Entebbe, Uganda.

His project, Physics in Action: How a Fruit-Picking Robot Uses Newton’s Laws of Motion, earned Uganda its only gold medal of the competition, with two other Ugandan students also receiving international recognition for engineering work.

Organisers: a platform for collaboration, not just competition

Fatih Adak, Headteacher of North London Grammar School, described IGO as designed to function beyond a standard competition format.

“IGO is more than a competition, it is a platform for young innovators to collaborate, tackle global challenges, and develop ideas that can shape a better future,” Adak wrote in a LinkedIn post following the event.

Adak said every project entered was aligned with the SDGs, and thanked judges, staff, volunteers and guests, including the Lord Mayor of Oxford, Chewe Munkonge, and the ACN Group Chairman and Director, for their roles in the event.

“Most importantly, congratulations to all of our students. Your creativity, passion, and determination to make a positive impact on the world are truly inspiring,” he wrote.

Denisa Van Ruymbeke, President of MILSET Europe, the regional body for the International Movement for Leisure Activities in Science and Technology, which promotes STEAM education and youth scientific engagement, echoed that sentiment at the awards ceremony, describing the atmosphere as “just incredible.”

“All the students were celebrating the science and art, and I would like to congratulate them, because they did the first step to their future,” Van Ruymbeke said.

Judges weigh responsibility alongside innovation

Among the judges evaluating entries was Tosin Joseph, who assessed 12 teams in the AI category against nine criteria covering innovation, technical merit, feasibility, sustainability and societal impact.

He said the standout entries were distinguished less by technical sophistication than by how thoroughly participants had considered the consequences of deploying their ideas.

“The strongest teams weren’t necessarily those with the most advanced technology,” Tosin said. “They were the teams that had already considered how their solutions could be deployed responsibly, where the risks might emerge, and how those risks could be mitigated before anyone asked them.”

“In all, IGO 2026 demonstrates how the UK can position itself as a destination where emerging global talent is not only welcomed but evaluated against world-class standards. That matters because the future of AI depends as much on developing responsible innovators as it does on advancing technology”, he added.

Tosin said he placed particular weight on ethical AI considerations during judging, safety, bias mitigation, transparency and responsible deployment, describing these as principles increasingly shaping AI regulation internationally. “Innovation without responsibility is incomplete,” he said.

UK’s positioning in global STEM competition

Both Van Ruymbeke and Joseph pointed to the UK’s hosting role as carrying wider significance. Joseph said the event “demonstrates how the UK can position itself as a destination where emerging global talent is not only welcomed but evaluated against world-class standards,” while noting British students should also benefit from more exposure to competitive international environments.

Adak’s account, drawn from his role organising the event, and the judges’ reflections together point to an event organisers are positioning as a growing fixture on the UK’s youth STEM calendar, though neither the scale of that ambition nor the Olympiad’s long-term funding model is detailed in available materials.

The post Judges and organisers Hail UK’s Role in STEM as IGO Draws 500 Innovators from 50+ Countries appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

One pupil wanted to create technology that could protect endangered animals. Another imagined an AI tool that could help lonely children find support. Others envisioned solutions for healthcare, education and climate challenges.

For many of the children, it was their first opportunity to think beyond artificial intelligence as merely a chatbot, a smartphone feature or a futuristic concept. Instead, they were encouraged to see AI as a tool for solving real-world problems.

Leading that conversation was Tosin Joseph, a Nigerian-born product and innovation leader, emerging technology researcher and STEM Ambassador, who was invited as a guest speaker during British Science Week 2026.

The annual event, organised across the United Kingdom from March 6 to 15, focused on the theme, “Curiosity: What’s Your Question?”, an invitation for young people to ask bold questions about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The theme aligned closely with Joseph’s message that curiosity remains the most important skill in an age increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

Over the course of the week, he engaged approximately 300 pupils at Thornhill Primary School in Luton and Marston Vale Middle School in Bedfordshire, delivering presentations designed not only to explain AI but to make it relatable, practical and inspiring.

Making AI Human

Rather than beginning with technical definitions, Tosin started where children already live: everyday experiences.

He explained how AI powers tools many of them use daily, from voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa to recommendation systems on Netflix and navigation platforms like Google Maps.

The goal was simple: demystify AI.

Through examples ranging from language translation and self-driving vehicles to wildlife conservation and healthcare applications, he showed how artificial intelligence is increasingly woven into modern life.

More importantly, he emphasised a principle often missing from conversations about emerging technologies: AI is a tool, not a replacement for human creativity.

“You’re still the one with the big ideas,” one of his presentation slides reminded students. That message resonated strongly with educators.

Rebecca Therry of Thornhill Primary School described the session as inspiring, noting that pupils continued discussing AI-related ideas long after the presentation had ended.

“Thank you so much for the inspiring talk. The children really enjoyed it and have already come up with some wonderful ideas for future AI inventions,” she said. “The topic has also come up several times since in discussions linked to other areas of learning, which has been fantastic to see.”

Beyond the Hype

At a time when headlines about artificial intelligence are often dominated by fears of job displacement, misinformation and ethical concerns, Tosin chose a different route.

He focused on possibility.

Students learned how AI can help people who cannot speak communicate through eye-tracking systems, how machine learning can assist doctors in detecting illnesses earlier, and how conservationists use AI to monitor endangered wildlife. The sessions also explored how AI can assist learning through intelligent tutoring systems and language tools that help children from different linguistic backgrounds understand one another.

For Joseph, these examples are essential because they shift attention away from technology itself and towards human impact.

His presentations challenged students to think about the problems they care about and how emerging technologies might help solve them.

The exercise culminated in a practical workshop where pupils were encouraged to identify a challenge involving people, the planet or play and then imagine an AI-powered solution.

A Nigerian Voice in Global Technology Conversations

Tosin’s participation in British Science Week also highlights the growing influence of African professionals in global discussions around technology, innovation and digital futures.

A product and innovation lead, public-interest technologist, published author and researcher, he is known for his work examining the societal implications of emerging technologies.

He is the author of Robotic Intelligence: The Coming Wave in Healthcare and serves as executive curator of The World Ahead with Emerging Technologies, a research and thought-leadership series exploring ⁠how AI and other technologies are transforming different sectors and curating global solutions towards climate change.

His work spans AI governance, digital trust, healthcare innovation, cybersecurity, education technology and the digital economy.

Over the years, he has spoken at conferences, mentored young professionals and engaged with innovation ecosystems across multiple countries.

Yet, despite these accomplishments, Tosin believes some of the most important conversations about technology happen in classrooms.

Why Curiosity Matters More Than Ever

The significance of the British Science Week theme goes beyond science education.

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in society, experts argue that future success will depend less on memorising information and more on asking meaningful questions.

Curiosity drives innovation. Curiosity fuels scientific discovery. Curiosity challenges assumptions.

And in an AI-powered world where information is increasingly accessible, curiosity may become one of the most valuable human skills.

Joseph’s final message to students reflected that philosophy. “You are the dreamer,” one of his closing slides declared. “AI can help, but your values, kindness and curiosity are what guide it.”

For the 300 young people who attended his sessions, the lesson was not merely about artificial intelligence.

It was about believing that the future belongs to those willing to ask questions, and brave enough to pursue the answers.

The post From Curiosity to AI: How Nigerian Technologist Tosin Joseph is Inspiring British School Children to Shape the Future appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.