An 11-year-old St Albans resident has won a national engineering competition which asked for imaginative solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.

Orla Connelly, who attends Loreto College, has won AECOM’s Imagineers competition with her design for a water pipeline running from wet to arid countries as a solution to water shortages.

Orla’s winning design was chosen by a team of judges including AECOM’s UK & Ireland chief executive David Barwell.

Associate director for transport at AECOM’s St Albans office, Karen Britton said: “With this project, we are encouraging children to develop a passion for subjects in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at an early stage and making the prospect of working for a company like AECOM one that is within reach, regardless of their backgrounds.”

Orla was presented by engineers from the global infrastructure service firm with a technical drawing of her design and vouchers for KidZania.