During the summer, global engineering company Renishaw hosted two work experience weeks with 100 students
In a bid to give students an insight into what a career in engineering can entail, Renishaw recently opened its Wotton-under-Edge headquarters to students, aged 15 to 17, from over 40 local schools.
Two programmes were offered: Engineering Work Experience, which 95 students took part in, and the Software Work Experience, which 14 took part in.
For the engineering programme, the students in their first week designed a product using magnetic levitation to aid manufacturing whilst, in the second week, designed a versatile measuring machine for schools and small businesses. For both projects, the students worked in teams to design and build a concept model using CAD.
During the Software Engineering Week students were given the opportunity to design a computer game.
Similarly to how engineers at Renishaw each have specific roles to perform as part of a team, the students replicated this in their projects.
The projects also built on topics the students have learnt as part of the school curriculum, furthering their teamwork, communication, presentation, problem solving and technical skills.
At the end of the week, each team presented its project to an audience of peers, science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) ambassadors and senior members of Renishaw staff.
For many of the students, engineering was brought to life during the week
As well as participating in projects, the students were given tours of Renishaw’s Innovation Centre and a careers talk to open their eyes to the opportunities available in engineering and software and where a career in these sectors could take them.
“Throughout the experience the students realise that engineering combines the science and maths skills they have already developed at school. It was incredibly rewarding to see the students grow in confidence over the week and the concept models and presentations were a real credit to the hard work and effort that the students made,” said Rebecca Bound, education liaison officer at Renishaw.
“To meet the engineering skills shortage in the UK, we need to double the number of graduates and apprentices entering the industry. Education outreach is an important part of inspiring young people to consider careers in this sector and get young people excited about engineering. We had fantastic feedback from the students, with many leaving inspired.”
