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Create an Engineering Buzz

 June 21 2018 | Kent & Medway | Views: 2610

“I am honoured to have the opportunity to experience interacting with people in doing something I love. I was inspired by all the activities and workshops”
- pupil from Ursuline College.

We are proud to have hosted presenters from some of the best-known names in industry at the first ever ‘Create an Engineering Buzz’ event. Five Secondary schools from the Kent and Medway region attended the event at the Canterbury campus of Canterbury Christ Church University on Thursday 21 June 2018. The event was run by STEM Ambassadors and volunteers from local engineering firms, who gave up their time to raise awareness and aspirations about engineering.

The day was started with all the groups attending a talk by Emily Ford, STEM Ambassador from EDF Energy. The focus of her talk was about encouraging more people to take up careers in engineering, and looking at what engineering really is.

“The speech at the beginning really took me by surprise to know the statistics of engineering and to know how many females need to do it”
- pupil at Ursuline College

The school groups then attended a number of different workshops:

  • Baker and Cantilever – Building Bridges between Engineering and the Public with the Rochester Bridge Trust
    “Today, I have been inspired to look more into engineering. I really enjoyed the activities we took part in - especially the building one. Before today, I didn't really know a lot about engineering and the different areas so I've learnt a lot over the course of the day”
    -pupil from Canterbury Academy
  • Bridge Building & Infrastructure Planning Activity with Peter Brett Associates
    “Today I learned so much about engineering. I learned how bridges were made, needing materials, location, how much gravitational potential energy there will be in it and will the people agree with it. We learned how roads were created between one town to another and how much it will cost and how long it will be to travel. Finally we learned that without engineers the world would be very different”
    -pupil from Canterbury Academy
  • Bridge Design and Construction with Royal Engineers Museum: Library and Archive
    “I have mostly been inspired by the workshop about engineers finding the place to make bridges and working out every factor needed”
    -pupil from Canterbury High School
  • Build you Own Robotic arm with University of Kent School of Engineering and Digital Arts
    “What inspired me most was the utterly enjoyable activity where we had to craft a robot hand out of a variety of materials. This was incredibly fun and it caused me to think creatively and logically. It also showed me engineering wasn’t what I had thought”
    -pupil at Astor College
  • Demonstration of Control of Humanoid Robot using Brain Computer Interface with School of Computing Digital Forensics and Cyber Security  
    “Today I realised how much engineers really do. They build amazing structures, and life savers. As well as dancing robots. What inspired me were all the people giving explanations, not the prizes or the activities, but the people who do this everyday”
    -pupil from Astor College
  • Elementary Programming with Mindstorm Kits and AERobots with School of Computing Digital Forensics and Cyber Security
    “This workshop was the best because it was amazing to see someone with a disability working and making something so amazing. He was really helpful and really fun to be around”
    -pupil from Ursuline
  • Instant Ice Cream with Pfizer
    “The activity that inspired me the most was the ice cream making activity. It gave me an insight of what chemical engineering really is, and what it can lead onto, it even makes medicine. I will definitely consider the career in the future”
    - pupil from Astor College
  • Pulling Together with Canterbury Christ Church University, The Edge Hub
    “What has inspired me the most was the pullies. This was because we had to think and plan what to do in groups. We worked well and it was trial and error with working out how to do it. After failing a lot of times we finally did it, we succeeded. We put all of our ideas together. This was a great learning experience”
    - pupil from Astor College
  • Tunnelling to the Bank of England with Dragagos SA
    “When we went to the tunnelling activity and they talked about the Underground it made me really consider a career in tunnelling and civil engineering, it has been a great day!!”
    -pupil from Kent College Canterbury
  • What is Civil Engineering with Ringway Jacobs
    “Today I liked learning about civil engineering because it was really inspiring”
    -pupil at the Royal Harbour Academy

The schools all attended the final talk of the day about The Amy Johnson Project. The presentation by Jane Piston STEM Ambassador told Amy’s story and aimed to inspire the next generation to consider a career in aviation and engineering to be bold, make brave choices and to follow their dreams!

“What inspired me the most was Amy Johnson, how she didn’t take no for an answer and how she still found a way to fly even though she was a woman, She has inspired me to believe in myself and never doubt myself because I’m a girl or because of my race”
– pupil from Kent College Canterbury

As you have read the event generated a great deal of positive feedback from students and teachers, and we would like to thank everyone involved in making the event such a success. It even changed perceptions about who can be an engineer.

“I was inspired because I learnt that girls and boys can do engineering, it doesn’t matter about gender”
– pupil from the Royal Harbour Academy


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