The Museum of Science and Industry will tonight host Animation 09, an awards ceremony conceived to acknowledge the next generation of computer animators that are set to make their mark on the creative industries.

Following on from its inaugural outing last year, the competition attracted over 800 entries from 200 schools - four times as many as in 2008 - with 33 winners being plucked from 31 different institutions.

(At the time of writing it was difficult to ascertain if there had been any regional winners... so if anyone is off to MOSI tonight maybe you can let us know.)

The University's Dr Toby Howard said of the initiative: "After the launch of the competition in 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary of the birth of the Baby computer, we have been delighted by the response to this year’s contest. The standard of work submitted has made judging the competition extremely tough.

“Animations have been used to tell a story, to explain or demonstrate a topic or idea.

"They had to be inspired in some way by the National Curriculum - but the only real limit was the students' imaginations."

You can find out more (but not the winners, yet) at  www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/Animation09

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