What initially interested you about the Next Engineers facilitation opportunity?
Ben: “The opportunity to give the students a different learning experience that will inspire, educate and challenge them and open up an industry and career that they may never have thought of.”
Carl: “ The idea that students could participate predominantly in practical workshops which are so important for a learning experience, especially as so many schools feedback seems to be that they don’t have materials/time for these much”
Do you think you see a big difference in young people from Discovery session 1 & 2?
Ben: “The students through session one realise the size and scope of engineering. Preconceptions about it being a male dominated career that involves building and fixing cars disappears and allows them in session two to build on this new found understanding, recognizing the diversity which exists within the industry, being provided with first-hand examples.
Carl: “Definitely in the understanding of the engineering design process.. it’s always a positive reaction from students when we arrive for the second workshop!”
What is your favorite memory delivering a Next Engineers workshop?
Ben: “To see a student say this is impossible at the beginning of our Toxic popcorn session and then by the end of the session achieve the goal is always a highlight. The impossible becomes possible!!”
Carl: “I could definitely agree with the above it happens every time! Also, the teachers feeding back that student x never usually behaves/gets involved in class but has been outstanding in our workshop… but my absolute favorite is last session on Friday before easter holidays, the bell going for end of day and the class all booing because the session was over… they weren’t even bothered about the easter holiday!”
What keeps you coming back for more Next Engineers sessions?
Ben: “The opportunity for students to discover about engineering in a whole new light and discovering they have skills they never new about.”
Carl: “I am passionate about the work, the fact it gives some students who aren’t usually `noticed` the opportunity to really excel!
If you would like to discuss the Next Engineers initiative further with our team you can contact us directly at nextengineers@tilg.co.uk.
