Two Year 8 students from Thornlie Senior High School have earned second place in the Junior Category of the 2025 State Science Talent Search with an engineering idea that pushes sleepy teenagers out of bed.
Morgan Blissett and Allison Aung created an “alarm bed,” a design that lifts the head of the bed to guide the sleeper into an upright position.
The pair said the idea came from watching friends and classmates hit snooze and fall straight back to sleep.
“Our project was called the alarm bed. It is basically a bed designed to help people get out of bed. It elevates the head of the bed, which forces you to sit upright,” Morgan said.
“The idea came from people we knew who just snooze off their alarm and go back to sleep instead of actually getting up,” Allison added.
Both girls said the design stage was their favourite part.
“My favourite part was actually designing it and seeing the designs and the words turn into images,” Morgan said.
“Seeing our imagination become an actual picture was the best part for me,” Allison said.
The toughest challenge was not being able to build a real prototype. The girls had to imagine what might work well and what they would fix if they could test it in person.
If we actually could build it, it would be a lot easier to find some things we would have to fix,” Allison said.
When their names were called for a second place at the awards ceremony, the shock and excitement hit at once.
“We were so shocked that we even made it to the top three. They called out the third place and it was not us. Then they called out second place and I thought, we did better than we thought,” Morgan said.
Allison said “It was a good feeling to come second. First would be too much, and third would be at least somewhere. So second felt right.”
Looking ahead, both students are already thinking about where science and engineering might take them. Morgan hopes to enter trade and sees a future in carpentry. Allison dreams of architecture or designing planes sparked in childhood.
Teacher Aneeta Dogra said the project stood out because it was entirely driven by the girls. She offers the State Science Talent Search each year, and students choose their own topics. Morgan and Alison took initiative from the beginning.
“I never had to push them. It was all coming from them. They did the planning, the research and the designing,” she said.
The project required teamwork, communication and a lot of collaboration outside school hours. Aneeta said both students showed strong problem-solving skills, especially when learning how a hydraulic system could be used in their design.
Each year, Aneeta submits only a small number of entries, and seeing the girls make the finals was a proud moment.
“We submitted only three projects this year and the girls made it to the final, so that is really a very proud moment,” she said.
She added that Thornlie’s achievement is special, because the winners often come from larger academic schools.
Morgan and Allison also shared some advice for other students.
“Even if you do not think you will get anywhere, still try, because you miss 100 percent of the shots you do not take,” Morgan said.
“Even small ideas have anywhere to expand,” Allison said.
