South London Students Awarded STEM Grant in Otis Program

Otis judges recognized a team of nine students from the Linden Lodge School in Wimbledon, South London, with a second-place award in the Otis Made to Move Communities^TM challenge for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Alongside Otis mentors, the students designed an AI-powered app called Walkway that supports visually impaired individuals and promotes inclusive mobility — the theme of this year’s challenge. The win resulted in the school receiving a GBP11,500 (US$15,502) grant to advance its science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning. Linden Lodge School is a residential school for children with vision and sensory impairment. Teacher Beatriz Calvo Perez, who led the project for the school, said its students face many barriers in their day-to-day lives, and taking part in the challenge was particularly meaningful for them. “Our students have demonstrated that having a disability is not a barrier to achievement,” she said.