By Bob Easby, Westcliff High School for Boys
I first attended a Faraday Challenge with a group of Year 8 students from Westcliff High School for Boys on a cold January day in 2012. I was initially impressed at how a school hall, full of 36 excited 13-year-olds suddenly fell silent when the Faraday presenters began describing the day's challenge. The mood hardly changed with all the teams working diligently in, what for 13-year-olds, seemed to be total silence for the whole day. The boys were so enthusiastic on the way back to Westcliff that I resolved to try to host the event the following year.
Find out more from the IET website
Faraday Challenge Days are one-day STEM activities developed by the IET for six teams of six students aged 12-13 years for secondary schools, and also available for self-delivery in primary schools. The challenge days take place over approximately a six month period at schools throughout the UK.
Read more: Should I host the IET Faraday Challenge at my school?
Should I Consider Engineering?
Find out more about what life in an engineering related career is like - and why you might like to work in an engineering company yourself.
Engineering. Sounds pretty dull doesn't it? That is until you start working in engineering. I am now a graduate in electronic engineering, and below I'll try to tell you how I managed to get a job that lets me work on some pretty awesome military equipment (don't ask I can't you...), travel round the world and get paid a good amount of money for it!
I have been to two Engineering Our Future lectures hosted by CSES at Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford. I feel that these have both been very worthwhile in informing the career path that I would like to choose due to the wide variety of topics covered by the courses. The presence of company exhibits allowed me to see what the companies actually do in a far more tangible way than through the abstract descriptions on their websites.
The lectures were both informative and interesting, highlighting the practical uses of the engineering that they use. The lecturers have all been very knowledgeable and have related to the audience well. To summarise, I would highly recommend these lectures for anyone who is looking to find out more about a career in Engineering.
These lectures provide a great insight to what technologies are up and coming as they are presented by the engineers who are working on such technologies. Many of these are at the cutting edge and provide an insight into what we will be engineering ten years into the future. As well as providing lectures the Engineering our Future events also welcome stands from local engineering companies to exhibit their current projects and also to provide information into how they got involved with engineering and how you could also become involved.
By James, Year 12
I have been fortunate enough to be able to attend two courses with the Smallpeice Trust. Each was an incredibly informative insight into the world of engineering, and they have together helped me in choosing my path through Sixth Form - guiding my options choices - and in cementing my desire to pursue a career in engineering. During these courses, I had opportunities to speak to many professional engineers, across varied disciplines of engineering, and was fortunate enough to be able to visit a Power Station, along with a Gas Turbine Station - both on a course sponsored by National Grid. These were fascinating experiences, visiting sites which would regularly not be open to the general public.
CSES Schools' Engineering and Technology Competition by Ollie, year 12 from KEGS
This competition is a great way to show off a science or engineering project that you have been working on. This could be Design and Technology coursework (for example I entered my year 11 electronics coursework), a project from a school club, or something you’ve been working on at home. There are many categories to suit all different kinds of work. During the day, you spend time explaining and demonstrating your project to the judges (usually various engineering professionals) as well as your fellow students at the event. You also get a chance to see what other people have done. This can be great if you are looking for inspiration for future projects, especially if you look at what students older than you have done. You can enter alone or as a team, and if you’re good enough, there are significant prizes to be won. If you think you have a relevant project, I would encourage you to enter.
CSES Schools' Engineering and Technology Competition by Joe, year 10 from KEGS
I'm Joe, and I took part in the 2011 CSES Schools' Engineering and Technology Competition. I entered a project I had done at an after school science and engineering club at my school. We were required to design and build a mode of transport for less than £10, and produce a project folder fully evaluating the steps we took to build our vehicle, and analyse the final product. I also put this forward for a silver CREST Award. My friend Dan and I looked at several types of transport to build, but decided on a hovercraft. Designing this hovercraft was a good way of developing our design skills, both on CAD and on paper. After building several prototypes, we decided on the one below.
Being able to build and test these prototypes was a great, practical way of learning vital Technology and Engineering skills such as problem solving. Completing the project folder also taught us a lot about evaluation and presentation, and about the harsh reality of deadlines! It was very fun building and painting our vehicle, and the sense that we'd really achieved something was brilliant.
We took our vehicle and the 30-page project folder to the judging event at Anglia Ruskin University, organised by CSES, and talked at great lengths to several of the judges about what we had built, how we had built it and what we had learned along the way. It was great being able to tell people about what we had done, and to meet and talk to engineers and learn about the opportunities that are available to us. It was an added bonus to the day that we won our category! We really enjoyed taking part in this competition, and feel like we'd really achieved something. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes Engineering or thinks that it's something they'd maybe like to do as a career, as you can learn a lot, and I'd like to thank CSES for the opportunity.
By Jonah, Year 11, Great Baddow High School
This is the first year that my school has entered anyone for an Arkwright Scholarship, and it's been challenging as it was all new to us, and we had GCSE exams at the same time, but it's also been really enjoyable.
When I first read about it, it appealed to me because it was a chance to take my interest in design and technology beyond school. It's a highly regarded achievement which makes it something to aim for, and whether or not you succeed it is good practice for exams, applications and interviews in the future.
By Richard, Year 13, sponsored by BT
Just applying to be an Arkwright Scholar gave me skills that would be useful for a career in Engineering. Drafting my application, sitting the scholarship exam and going for interview were all good experience for a future career and for the university application process. Actually being a Arkwright Scholar has allowed me to pay for a Smallpeice course on Mobile Communications, as well as opening up opportunities to visit companies and institutions that have links with the Arkwright Trust. These opportunities, along with the prestige of the scheme, will mean that being an Arkwright Scholar will continue to be an asset even after I have completed my 6th form Studies.
By Dayann, Year 13
Being an Arkwright Scholar has been very advantageous and has given me various opportunities to experience topics and sectors of engineering that I wouldn't otherwise be able to get involved with. Furthermore, I have had the added advantage of being sponsored by CSES, which has allowed me to become a member of the society and attend the lectures they hold.