Great article capturing why our STEM Challenge Events are a vital tool in getting students to recognise the importance and excitement of a career in engineering. Fantastic to have such enthusiastic quotes from the girls.

1. Powering Engineers
Physics Students developed their problem solving skills and explored careers in
Engineering as they took part in an interactive Young Engineers workshop.
A total of 20 students signed up for the event which involved them working in
small teams to create both wind turbines and water turbines using limited
materials. For the wind turbine, the students were challenged to build the tallest
tower that could support a turbine and stand up against the wind.
„We had to use an experimental trial and error approach for building the
structures,‰ explained student Matthew Amos. „If they looked unsteady then we
had to modify them to make sure they would support the weight of the turbine.
The turbine we created wasn't very good so we had to find out what was wrong
and how to improve it. ItÊs been good to learn in a different style.‰
„The aim of the project was to develop their team working and problem solving
skills as well as seeing sustainable and green energy in practice. It also opened
their eyes to the different careers in Engineering,‰ explained Nigel Moore, Leader
of the Young Engineers Project. „There is a low percent of females following a
career in Engineering and itÊs important to make all students aware of the diverse
range of career opportunities in Engineering, a field that has an increasing
number of job opportunities. It has also given them an opportunity to find out the
different routes of getting into these jobs, from university to apprenticeships.‰
„It has been good fun. ItÊs made me realise how broad the field of Engineering is
and IÊve learnt about careers that I wouldn't have considered to be Engineering.
For example, Biomedical Engineering where they would develop a method of
using bubbles to get chemotherapy around the body. IÊm interested in a career
within Biomedical Science so itÊs been really good for me,‰ said Sureka Kanesan.
„I didnÊt realise how many aspects there are to Engineering before. ItÊs definitely
opened my eyes to different the careers and is a route I will consider following,‰
added Chloe Preston.