Two Form Three students from Maryknoll Fathers' School won the international group championship in the Young Scientists (Unge Forskere) competition held in Denmark.
Steven Lau Tak-shing and Ivan Lau Tak-kin beat their competitors with the anti-bumping lock they invented during a summer programme at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) in 2006.
During the programme, the boys studied how bump keys, a device used by locksmiths to open pin tumbler locks, worked, and developed their 'anti-bump' concept.
The professors at CityU were impressed by their idea and encouraged them to develop it further. With the help of technicians, the students studied the structure of pin tumbler locks and eventually created the prototype for the anti-bumping lock.
They took out a patent on the design which was purchased by a mainland lock factory.
Before their recent success, Steven and Ivan had already won a number of competitions.