1st Year Anniversary
Today marks a year since the official launch of Next Engineers in Johannesburg! This is an exciting time for us as we see and contribute to the continuous growth and impact of the program. In just the first year of implementation, 99% of the 1,457 learners reached in Engineering Discovery indicated an increased awareness of engineering and 96% indicated having gained an interest in engineering. What an incredible milestone this is to achieve! Next Engineers also hosted a very successful Engineering Camp, accommodating 208 Grade 9 learners from schools across the Johannesburg districts. All 208 learners indicated that they enjoyed the Camp, and 98% of learners showed interest in joining the Engineering Academy.
Cohort 1 2023 Progress
On the 4th of February, our very first learner cohort of the Engineering Academy in Johannesburg kicked off their second year of participating in the program. In this very short month, the learners covered a lot of content aimed at developing themselves as future professionals, proudly delivered by the Kutitiva Foundation. Amongst others, learners were engaged in various activities such as Developing Your Brand, Stress and Time Management, and Crafting a Resume or CV. The learners truly enjoyed participating in these sessions and cannot wait to start with their first Engineering Academy Design Challenge in 2023, to be facilitated by the University of the Witwatersrand academics.
Global Challenge Participation
The 1st cohort are now using their skills learnt in 2022, especially the engineering design processes, to compete in the Global Cross-Site Challenge in honor of the Engineers Week! Learners had to design a catapult that can launch a ping pong ball the farthest, using only popsicle sticks and rubber bands. Despite the constraints given in the activity, they showed resilience and fought through their not-so-successful attempts, and they finally got it right! We wait in anticipation for the final results, which will be posted via Instagram on @nextengineersglobal.
We are excited to welcome our new cohort of Next Engineers in our Engineering Academy program! The new cohort will be coming in on the 4th of March 2023: A very exciting couple of weeks ahead for the Johannesburg team. Not only are we celebrating our anniversary, we are also starting our Engineering Discovery sessions, welcoming a new group of Grade 10s, and our Grade 11s are starting their new Design Challenge: Clean Streams!
Stay tuned to see more of what the program is doing!
