SPECIFIC is working with the Welsh Government to provide outreach resources for 15-18 year old school children. Our free virtual workshops aim to inspire and interest young people while they’re away from the classroom.
Four sessions have been designed with a Sustainable Engineering theme in order to motivate young people to get involved with designing tomorrow’s solutions. The topics covered are similar to those that are studied in a Materials Engineering course at Swansea University. These sessions include:
- Grid Scale Energy Storage
- Printed Electronics for Off-Grid Homes
- Engineering for the Apocalypse and Water Filter Workshop
- Fascinating Fluids Around the Home
The first workshop (Grid Scale Energy Storage) had 16 participants from across the UK and beyond. They were shown how to make a penny battery (voltaic pile) in order to light up an LED. This is an easy activity to recreate at home using household items. Other workshops include homemade water purification devices and the science behind off-grid Active Buildings.
To ensure participants are given sufficient time and support, each workshop can hold up to 20 people, with the talks accepting up to 100 people each. One workshop session is already fully booked, with 20 children registered. As a result, additional events are being created to increase the participation capacity.
Due to the popularity of the sessions and to avoid disappointment – the video recordings are are being released via YouTube. The first one can be viewed here.
Dr Sarah-Jane Potts, SPECIFIC Technology Transfer Fellow and organiser of this voluntary tutoring, said: “With the schools closed, these workshops provide young people with the opportunity to learn new things in an interactive setting. We hope this will inspire them to help us design a more sustainable future through engineering. So far, participants have enjoyed engaging in our workshops and have even signed up for future ones.”
Feedback from participants has been really positive:
“I found it really interesting and the workshop was really fun”
“Enjoyed the ability to engage”
“Very interesting and engaging”
“I found the topic and the presentation very interesting”