SIX months of hard graft have paid off for a 15 year old from Harpenden, who has successfully built a PC into a glass desk at school.

Charles Carter worked on the special desk with his design and technology teacher at Roman Fields School in Hemel Hempstead.

The teen said he got the idea for the project when pondering how to improve the appearance of the “ugly metal computer case”.

He added: “I decided to try to build it into a desk under a glass screen so you could see the computer when it’s on, so you get a better understanding of how it works, and with a screen that rises out of the desk. It looks cool!”

Charles said there were a few problems he and his design teacher had to solve, like grounding the PC and getting the computer to boot.

He said thanks to his teacher, the desk was finished in time for the summer holidays and working, “so I’m well happy”.

The desk is made almost entirely from recycled material, for example the metal sheeting which grounds the PC had a former life as the school sign.

The main frame is built out of some old woodwork benches, and the PC is Charles’s old computer, which he took apart to build into the desk.

Charles said: “Building the desk and putting the screen in was the hardest bit for me, because electronics and computers are what I’m really good at.”

“But thanks to my design and technology teacher it wasn’t so hard because he knew what we were doing on the woodwork side and I knew what I was doing on the computer side.

“The hardest part was the screen, because you have to get it to fit perfectly.”

Describing himself as “keen on computers,” Charles said he is now looking for a Saturday job in computing or electronics.

He thanked the school and his technology teacher for their support with his project.