Graced with the presence of 100 prospective engineers, the Johannesburg team has achieved yet another milestone, completing the third round of the Next Engineers: Engineering Camp. The participants showed great interest in learning about the engineering field and were asking questions that would shape their perspective of the field and increase their interest in engineering.
On their first day, learners went on a journey to their future, where they got to envision their future self, and work out how they would get there. To achieve this, they need to know what makes them who they are, their interests and aspirations. The session is called Engineer Your Life. The second was a day on which they engaged with the GE City Team, with demonstrations from Dylan Busa of FHI360. Interacting with personnel from the management team to the engineers that work in the different sites. After that, they were given a taste of the engineering design process as they did a brief Design Challenge called Wheel of Pasta.
The third and fourth day focused on their Capstone challenges. This year, we took a different approach to the capstone challenge and gave learners two different design challenges to work on. They had to choose between Solar for Food (solar-powered oven that can melt as many marshmallows as possible at a given time) and Water for Life (water purification system). Though there was a bit of frustration during the designs, the end products turned out to be impressive.
The awards given out in 2024 were more than those given in the past two years. Awards for resilience, leadership, most improved, exemplary conduct, best team, best design groups were handed out. These were to recognize the different attributes that the learners possessed beyond the engineering skills. The learners were encouraged to pursue their prospective career paths without fear of inadequacy. In conclusion, this group is one to watch out for. We expect nothing but greatness in their future.
