Big Bang
The Institution’s presence at the Big Bang Fair on 13-16 March 2014 was very successful. The annual Big Bang Fair, which was held at Birmingham’s NEC, showcased science, technology, engineering and maths to young people aged 7-19 and demonstrated how exciting and rewarding careers in these subjects can be. The Institution, along with Bloodhound SSC, were present at the four day event with the joint objective of inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers, in addition to talking directly to teachers to bring Bloodhound SSC into the classroom with an ambassador and Education toolkit.
The Institution’s Bloodhound Education toolkit is a box of activities, information and resources based on the project that has been designed exclusively for Institution ambassadors to engage a class of 30 kids for a few hours. As a result of the event, the Institution signed up 132 schools interested in the toolkit: the equivalent outreach of at least 3,960 children.
The response of students to Bloodhound was summed up eloquently by James, a 13 year old student from the George Spencer Academy, who said: “It’s an incredible and ground-breaking project. I’ve been saving up for the last few years to go to South Africa when the car does attempt the world record, I’m so excited!”
For more information about Bloodhound
Engineering Your Future
On 21 March, Greater London school students took part in Engineering Your Future: an event which offers GCSE and A-level students information about different engineering disciplines and careers in engineering. Volunteers from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, ICE and IET looked after 115 students from Beths Grammar School, Bexley Grammar School, Cannons High School, Claremont High School, Da Vinci Studio School of Science and Technology, JFS, Our Lady’s Convent High School, St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School, Christ the King St Mary’s 6th Form College, Queensmead School, Chelsea Academy, Bentley Wood High School, Isleworth and Syon School, Waingels College and Harrow High School.
Aaron Du MIMechE, the Vice Chair – Events, for the Greater London Region Young Members Panel, was organising the event for the third time, and said that it was: “A fantastic event to encourage students to do engineering – we need to boost the numbers. The students seem to enjoy the workshops and challenges, helping them to engage with real problems, inspiring them to be engineers in the future. I am on the young member panel, this is my third year volunteering at this event, it seems to be improving each year, and there is a good balance of girls and boys.”
The day started with an address by Ross Henrywood, the current IMechE Undergraduate Visionary Award Winner. He is studying for a PhD at Cambridge, and he asked the students to consider which famous engineers they could think of. Chances were that Brunel and Stephenson were on that list, but he wanted to draws attention to more recent engineers. He talked about Keith Tatlinger, who designed the connecting and locking mechanisms that allowed shipping containers to be stacked and transported securely; about Frank Whittle who designed the modern jet engine which is run at the edge of what is possible regarding temperature and tolerances. He then suggested engineering is the application of technology to solving problems, and that virtually all fields of endeavour need engineers.
He finished by reminding the students that the UK needs an additional 40,000 engineers, and that their day at the Institution was to understand what was exciting about engineering. So whether the challenge is climate change, water supply, transportation or energy – it will be engineers who fill find the solutions. His parting thought in the lecture was: "Ask yourself, what can I do to change the world? Become an engineer.”
Speaking of the success of the event, he said: “I found the day really enjoyable and I hope the students got something out of it. I'm slightly jealous as I don't recall having access to such events when I was at school!”
Volunteers from the IMechE, ICE and the IET, who were either at university or in their first few years of work, hosted the students as they moved round five activities during the day. They had time to chat to the students informally and answer any questions they had.
Michelle Okyere who is studying Product Design Engineering at Loughborough explained that: “Engineering is so much more than A-levels.” Gregory Strong from London Underground agreed, saying: “There was nothing like this for me, it really helps show young people what engineering is and that it’s really interesting.”
It was fascinating for the students to distinguish between the different fields of engineering, and realise how they overlapped and interacted within the workplace. Four high profile, global engineering companies kindly hosted activities designed to show the breadth of engineering within their companies and to challenge the students thinking.
After a brief overview of aerodynamics, British Airways had the students designing model aircraft, and finding out which design flew furthest. In true engineering fashion, there was then time for some redesign before further tests. Kathryn Dryden, a graduate mechanical engineer from Atkins, who was helping on the day said: “The kids seem really enthusiastic, and loved getting involved; it’s nice to see a few girls getting involved. The BA game worked really well and was very interactive, working together to build ideas - throwing out ideas, building their confidence, brings out the best in them.”
The BA activities were led by engineering graduates and apprentices. Gonzalo de Gisbert, a graduate engineer, said that: “With university fees being so high, students are questioning whether to go to university or do an apprenticeships. We want to show them the career path and options for an engineering career with BA Engineering.”
CH2M Hill are a civil engineering company, who challenged the students to build the tallest tower they could from spaghetti and marshmallows. As well as sticky fingers, this raised questions of creep, buckling, stability, as well as teamwork, feedback and what to do if something goes wrong. The winning team was a textbook example of planning, dividing the tasks and communication – and hopefully very true to life.
KBR discussed had a process engineering task, as well as a discussion of the range of opportunities within their company. Ryan Hill, a student from Beths Grammar explained that: “It had been really useful, I had no idea how businesses work, and that there was such a range of engineering expertise in every company.”
By inviting the students to identify the number and range of electronic systems within railway installations, aircraft terminals and formula one cars, Firstco demonstrated the breadth of expertise needed by their company. They then persuaded the students to race radio control cars around a course – however they had to do it all remotely on a screen, relying on the on-board camera. The competitive spirit of the students was soon in evidence. The engineers from Firstco then discussed how the example could be related to real examples within their company, and the useful lessons that had been learnt while having fun!
Each group of students also had a ‘speed networking’ event, where, in groups of five, they spent a few minutes with engineers from different disciplines and stages in their career. They could find out how they got their job, what they did, and even what they got paid. These small groups encouraged a frank range of questions and were clearly popular with the students.
Kysrine Mercurius, a maths teacher from Claremont High said that she had brought students who were studying maths and physics and they were: “Interested in finding out more information on the different fields of engineering.” Michael McAleer from Bentley Wood High School explained that: “We are putting a big emphasis on STEM subjects this year, and today is a chance for good interaction and for the students to ask frank, honest questions.” Speaking from the pupil’s point of view, Masha Vasnasooriya said: “I spoke to someone who had done exactly what I want to do: study aeronautical engineering. She told me which universities to lookup, and the best university for this subject. It was really useful.”
Professor Fred Maillardet FIMechE, the Chair of the Education Advisory Group is a keen advocate of EYF. “The key thing is to give a chance to ask questions. Most people think they’ve met an engineer, but they often haven’t met high level professional engineers face to face. I want them to see that infinite variety of opportunities, and that it doesn’t matter what kind of engineering you do, you just apply it where you need to.”
Chris Lowther FIMechE, a member of the EYF organising committee, concluded that: “The students were very engaged, more than previous years, more interested in thinking about engineering as a career. There’s a real buzz, students really thinking about jobs.”