Awarded the James Clayton Undergraduate Scholarship by the Institution in 2012, Sarah Barrington found the beginning of freshers’ year at Cambridge University tough, but thoroughly rewarding, thanks to her commitment to making a difference through engineering.
If you had asked Sarah Barrington a few years ago if she would one day be a Cambridge undergraduate, she would probably have laughed. She says she applied mostly for physics courses, and only to Cambridge for engineering as a distant hope. She was delighted (though somewhat daunted) to receive a very challenging offer, but summoned all her ambition and determination to attain four top A-levels, and earned her place at Cambridge and a scholarship to boot.
“It was an incredibly high offer, two As and two A*s and I had to have a good think: how am I going to do this. I’m incredibly proud and pleased that I stepped up and got the grades. It’s really hard but really rewarding at the same time.”
Sarah’s background, she says, didn’t necessarily indicate that she would one day study engineering. “My dad is an engineer, though not from a scientific background; my mum is a nurse, and I am the first person to go to university in my family.” At a large sixth form college – King Edward VI in Nuneaton – she felt that engineering was not a clear or obvious choice; she initially thought that she would go on to study physics. Sarah says: “My interest in engineering was activated by my own drive to find out more about it.”
There were, however, several factors to point her in that direction. One of these was at a family day out at an Imagineering event (many of which, of course, benefit from the help of volunteers and members of the Institution). It was perfect timing, as Sarah explains:“We attended the Imagineering fair and I had the incredible good fortune to meet the inventor Trevor Baylis OBE face to face. I had just completed a project on him at school. To have the opportunity to talk to the man who had designed the wind-up radio using his maths and physics knowledge, which was changing people’s lives on the other side of the world, was a huge honour and really inspired me.”
Sarah also received gliding lessons, another factor that ignited a passion for engineering, and made her first solo flight on her 16th birthday. It gave her an insight into, and hands-on experience of, the principles of aeronautics engineering.
Not content to leave anything to chance, Sarah also organised some work experience: first, aged 16, she spent two weeks at Jaguar Land Rover split between the Whitley plant, in Coventry, and Gaydon in Warwickshire. The following year she went to Zeeko Precision Optics Ltd, based in Coalville, Leicestershire. “It was completely different to what I was witnessing in the classroom, and helped lead me in the direction of engineering. It was exciting to be in the workplace and to begin to understand some of the practicalities of industrial engineering at first hand,” she remembers.
Sarah outlines some of the difficulties facing sixth-form students, whom she feels sometimes don’t get a good enough sense of engineering to help them select it for their degree. “The beauty of engineering is that it is so broad,” she says, “but I felt that it was never described fully enough to me and the 1,200 students at my college, who were making massively important choices.”
Sarah feels (though many might dispute this!) that she “stumbled into” engineering, rather than appraising, it like many other degree subjects, with a full understanding. She says that if she had not taken steps herself, such as setting up her own work experience placements, she may not have picked the best course for her future. Engaging secondary and sixth-form students through outreach projects, Sarah feels, is imperative to help them select courses – like engineering – which they may have experienced at a very minimal level at school.
Outreach is clearly a large part of what Sarah finds rewarding about engineering. She found the perfect outlet for her energy when she joined the Cambridge University Eco Racing team, which is working towards competing in the World Solar Challenge in Australia later this year.
As Sarah wrote on the CUER blog after her first term at Cambridge: “Having naively joined the team on a whim within my first two weeks of studying, I was very uncertain of what to expect. I had comparatively minimal engineering experience, was pretty sure I would be the only girl present and felt as though I would probably be rendered useless to the team. It’s fair to say I could not be more wrong! Although initially daunting, sitting in my first mechanical team meeting surrounded by such a mixture of incredibly bright, passionate people soon brought me to the realization that I’d made a great decision.”
Over and above their academic responsibilities, and in addition to their exacting mechanical challenges on the solar car, members of the team dedicate many hours, often at weekends, to outreach activities. These have included taking part in the inaugural e-Luminate Festival 2013, held during the last weekend in February, which celebrates clean technology, innovation and light, and was held in various venues across Cambridge.
“The car is a brilliant entry into the subject; it’s a cool design and the concept is accessible. Recently, a group of students visited the Cambridge engineering department: our role was to explain what we do – and bin a few stereotypes about engineers along the way! We try and make engineering accessible, to try and communicate that if you have an interest, and put your mind to it, engineering is possible for anyone.” Sarah and her colleagues hope that, as they are only slightly older than their teenage visitors, they can make the subject feel accessible to sixth-formers: “that could be me in a couple of years.”
Her next outreach project takes place at the Science Museum, during its High Performance Festival. It starts on 8 March, which is also International Women’s Day, and has a focus on women in science and engineering, celebrating those who make our world faster, brighter and better. Sarah is thrilled to be among those taking part: “The event aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, no matter what age or gender they are.”
Sarah and fellow student Lucy Osborne have already travelled to London to take part in a workshop about the event – which could bring their project into contact with up to 3,000 members of the public each day – to agree their communication strategy and objectives. Sarah says: “We examined the best ways to showcase our project in such a busy environment through a series of team building activities, including a ‘20 questions’ type game that explored how to stimulate and engage onlookers.” All fantastic experience for outreach activities in the future.
Career-wise, Sarah has not made any firm decisions and is comfortable, for the time being, to enjoy the many experiences that engineering offers. The good thing, she feels, is that there is a broad range of opportunity. “I’m keen to keep adding to my experiences and am keeping my options well and truly open. The reason I chose engineering, is because I want to make a difference to people, and I’m going to see what the future brings.”
She has a lot on her plate: her academic timetable is rigorous, and her commitment to the CUER is considerable, taking up many weekends. “The thing I think I have realised, now I’m at university, is that there ARE enough hours in the day, you’ve just got to make use of them all!”
Further information:
Sarah Barrington is an engineering undergraduate at Cambridge University. As part of her studies, she is required to undertake a relevant work placement during the summer holidays this year. If your company has any suitable engineering-based opportunities, please contact her at: seb93@cam.ac.uk
Science Museum – High Performance Festival, 8-10 March
During the free three-day event, in addition to interacting with the solar car team and high-school students who build and race electric cars, visitors can meet motorsport engineers, fuel chemists, particle physicists, military engineers, (including Major Steph McKenzie MIMechE, who will be talking about her involvement in the March issue of Agenda), and a Red Arrows pilot; and attend talks, demonstrations and workshops. Visit: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk