Parallax
16-year-old shows potential of Yorkshire's next generation of tech talent
EDWARD HESKETH, 16, from Leeds, has achieved some unique work experience after sitting his GCSEs, as part of an engineer team creating a new piece of technology for a £multi-million client.
Edward was singled out at a careers day at UTC Leeds and found himself working alongside an award-winning international tech team at innovation consultancy Parallax.
Jakub Szamuk, who himself joined Parallax while still a teenager, identified Edward’s talents and invited him to join a paid internship during the 2026 summer break.
“Edward absolutely wowed us with his abilities and enthusiasm, so we decided to throw him in the deep end by putting him into a team in our lab on a real-life client project,” says Jakub.
“Not only did he write some of the code on the device the team created, he even designed and 3D-printed the enclosure for the hardware.”
The device in question is a simple but ingenious solution to a major business headache: if a brand wants to give its customers exclusive access to discounts and deals while out and about, it can’t give them a QR code to scan because they’re so easy for anyone to photograph and share.
“We built a device that displays cryptographically-secured QR codes that expire after 24 hours. E-ink and deep sleep result in battery life measured in years, and an architecture that runs entirely offline.
“So Edward is going to be able to see his work in production, potentially accessible to millions of drivers using car parks every month, before he himself is even old enough to drive.”
Jakub Szamuk continues: “Edward plans to continue at the UTC for his A-Levels this coming academic year, having already completed his full Computer Science course two years early. With a project like this on his CV he can expect to be in high demand among employers when that time comes. We very much hope he will keep in touch with us.”
Edward concludes: “I’ve had a really good time working at Parallax, it has been great to meet and work with the other engineers developing the project, and I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to do work for a client of the company. Everyone at Parallax has been very welcoming, and I very much enjoyed my time there.”
