Weizmann Safe Cracking Competition 2023

On Sunday, a group of Lower Eighth pupils, team ‘nano Vault’, participated in the annual Weizmann Safe Cracking Competition at Dulwich College, accompanied by Mr Tretiakov and Mr Swartzentruber.

Each participating team had designed and built a ‘safe’ puzzle box, crafted only to be unlockable with both knowledge and understanding of principles of physics.

Weeks of designing, planning and building finally came together on the day, when the team presented their freshly completed safe – fully functioning as designed and with an impressive coat of paint. The team gives their sincere thanks to Mr Hartfield, Mr Clark and Dr Patterson for their advice, support and supervision.

The team – Rahul, Archie, Alexander, Anton and Mevan –  came 4^th overall out of 18 entrants from across the UK, 3^rd according to the judges scoring, and their entry was the second-least cracked safe in the competition.

Despite not making the podium this year, the team all learned a lot about design, physics, teamwork, organisation, planning and project management, and could leave at the end of a full day of safe cracking with a real sense of achievement.