Your stories

We'd love to hear your stories of STE(A)M activities so that we can share it with others.

If you would like to contribute something to this section, or have queries about anything already posted here, please contact the Webmaster.

Felsted Students and others at the Billericay Soap Box Derby

Felsted Pupils Shine at Billericay Soapbox Derby 2024

In a wonderful display of creativity and collaboration, Felsted School pupils, parents, and staff teamed up with REMAP engineers at the Billericay Soapbox Derby. The annual extravaganza drew in thousands of spectators eager to witness the spectacle of soapbox chariots hurtling down a perilous route towards the finishing line. This year, Felsted pupils have partnered with REMAP, working collaboratively to create a computerised memory game aimed at assisting people with dementia. Weekly sessions with REMAP engineers have provided Felsted students with invaluable opportunities to hone their scientific, engineering and design skills, all while contributing to a meaningful cause.

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Members of CSES, CCH staff and some STEM club students showing kits and certificate

CSES continues to support schools with technology and engineering

CSES bursary kits granted to Chelmsford County High School for Girls

As part of the ongoing commitment to education, support and inspiration Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society (CSES) has been working with Chelmsford County High School (CCHS) for girls.

CSES member Ed Bye has been working with a group of sixteen keen and enthusiastic year 10 (14/15 years of age) students at Chelmsford County High School.

One lunchtime a week during the autumn term, the students have been exploring control electronic engineering and stored program systems based on the Micro:bit microcontroller.

In the world, there are by far many more devices (microcontrollers) than computers. With increasing electronics finding its way into all sorts of items, this number will grow. As an example, a typical budget low-end car has about 25 microcontrollers, a high-end luxury car can have over 50 microcontrollers.

The current generation of students will be using microcontrollers, developing their own equipment and projects to solve engineering problems. Thus, giving young students some insight and experience with microcontrollers puts them at an advantage and an early start.

To enable some understanding and to provide some practice with this technology, Ed designed a kit of parts to work specifically with the Micro:bit. There is a variety of about 25 sensors and actuators, shown below. These could be used in numerous projects in conjunction with a Micro:bit.

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Felsted School Partners with Remap Charity in Innovative Project to Support People with Dementia

Students from Felsted School building an interactive dementia-friendly games console with volunteers from Remap Essex

Read about Felsted's collaboration with Remap following the CSES TEXPO 2023. Words and pictures by Mrs C Bury, kindly reproduced with permission from the Felsted School website.

In a bid to foster connections to the wider world and make a positive impact on the community, Felsted School proudly announces its collaboration with Remap, a renowned charity dedicated to creating bespoke devices that enhance the lives of individuals with disabilities. At the heart of Felsted School's ethos is the commitment to extending its influence beyond the classroom, and the partnership with Remap aligns perfectly with this mission.

Remap, known for its work in utilising design and technology to craft custom devices not commercially available, has found an eager ally in Felsted School's STEM team. Our students are enthusiastically taking on the challenge of developing two memory light-up devices designed to support individuals living with dementia. This innovative initiative aims to demonstrate how science, design, and technology skills acquired in the classroom can be harnessed for tangible, real-world impact.

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Solomon's Story: Nuffield Placement

Following a careers talk from CSES, Solomon Malih (Year 12/13) completed a successful Nuffield Research Placement over the 2021 summer holidays. He has kindly told us his story here...

Over the summer, I had the privilege of completing a Nuffield Research Placement. The Nuffield Research Placements are an excellent opportunity to spend two weeks with a subject specialist or industry expert working on a live research topic. As for what you do on this two-week placement, that can vary. I know one placement which was centred around artificial intelligence, whilst another was more practical and involved designing a solution to a real-world engineering problem. Some will be more research-based than others, but they will all likely involve reading academic literature, collecting primary and secondary data, and working with the software used in academia and industry.

I spent two weeks investigating the use of quantum computation for particle physics with a research fellow at the University of Cambridge. Some of the theory and mathematics involved was at an undergraduate or even post-graduate standard, but my supervisor was very patient with me and willing to explain things multiple times if needed. My supervisor's work involved testing a quantum physics concept known as a gauge theory using quantum computation. The particles involved in testing the gauge theory can be modelled as quantum gates, which I implemented in a quantum circuit and simulated using Qiskit, an open-source SDK (software development kit) that provides tools for working with quantum machines.

At the end of the placement, I had to produce a 10-20 page research report outlining my project's aim, findings, methodology, and more.

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CSES competition winner speaks with PM

November 2021 — we were delighted to be informed that Sarah Mirkin (Year 2/3), one of the winners of our Imagine! STEAM online competitions earlier in the year, was recently invited to Downing Street for an audience with the Prime Minister ahead of his attendance at COP26.

There is more information here:

https://twitter.com/borisjohnson/status/1453708293671636997?s=21

She was also lucky enough to be interviewed for Sky News, along with other children:

https://schools.firstnews.co.uk/fn-education-tv/fyi/fyi-episode-146/#fvp_FYI-TX146_FIRST-NEWS

Our congratulations and thanks to Sarah and her mother, who very kindly told us that "initiatives such as yours ... help the children feel part of something important and feel heard contribute in many surprising ways".

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Greensward Academy at the CSES Schools' Challenge

12 students from the Greensward Academy attended the CSES Schools' Competition

On Friday 28th June, 12 Greensward students attended the Chelmsford Science and Engineering Societies’ Annual Schools’ Competition. The event was hosted by Anglia Ruskin University where the students presented the 3 projects they had been working on, either in STEM club, or as part of the Engineering Education Scheme, to a range of judges from the local science and engineering community.