School teams with future facing science projects are invited to enter awards.

The KM Bright Spark Awards 2017 are now open for entries from groups of pupils with innovative and inventive science, technology, engineering and mathematics projects.

One of the awards' supporters Global Associates is particularly on the lookout for environmentally minded engineers.

Paul Wetherfield, chief executive at Global Associates, said: “"We are extremely delighted and also very excited to be involved with the KM Charity Bright Spark Awards. As a business we are very active in promoting young, talented and innovative youth into the highly technical world of building energy management systems.”

He added: “We hope by being involved in this collaborative and exciting challenge that we may find inspired and talented individuals that could one day be part of our company's continuing success.”

The annual awards aim to increase the cool factor of STEM subjects in schools. Primary and secondary school students are encouraged to collaborate using cross-curricular skills and submit projects which fall into one of the three award categories: Innovation, Invention or Investigation.

Finalists will be invited to the annual awards event, which is run in a dragons’ den-style format. The students will be filmed in advance in school to show the detail of the project. This is screened before the students take to the stage to describe their creation and dragons quiz the youngsters on their initiative. Different panels of dragons will judge the varying categories or year groups and award trophies and experience prizes to the students and schools.

Overall Bright Spark Awards champions will win a top prize of £500.

The KM Bright Spark Awards are also supported by Astro Communications, Benenden Hospital Trust, Integrated Technologies Ltd, Golding Vision, Pfizer, Prendon Panels Ltd, BAE Systems and Discovery Park.