Computer Animation contest to inspire young animators

Computer scientists from The University of Manchester have launched an animation competition to inspire the next generation of technological experts. The video content on this page requires you to have the Flash Player plug-in installed. You can download the Flash Player plug-in from the Adobe website via the link below: Staff at the School of Computer Science came up with the idea for the UK Schools Computer Animation Competition in 2008, to mark the 60th anniversary of the world's first stored program computer, designed and built in Manchester in 1948. Now in 2011 the competition - Animation11 - enters its fourth year, with its goal to encourage a greater interest in computing amongst young people. Youngsters aged between seven and 19 are being challenged to create an animated film, of one minute or less, using any of the Alice, Scratch, Adobe Flash, or Serif software packages. Over 800 schools across the country registered to take part in last year's competition, with 1,300 entries submitted, and even bigger numbers are expected this year. Competition winners stand to scoop prizes including laptops, digital cameras and MP3 players - and will have their films showcased at a high-profile animation festival in July 2011 at The Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.