Category: Curiosity Connections

Internship Reflection: Finding Purpose Beyond the Pay | CATE’s internship scheme

Author engineering | Posted on

By Nicolle Hanselmann

I was lucky to be accepted into the School of Engineering’s summer internship programme. While everyone knows students are often broke (yes, money does help), my motivation came from somewhere deeper.

A little background before I dive into my experience.

I’m a mature student studying Mechatronics, about to begin my third year on an Integrated Master’s degree. Excited, and maybe a bit scared, I chose this path to save time, which meant skipping the usual placement year that helps students stand out after graduation. Placements can often be the golden ticket during interviews, but for me, internships became the bridge, the opportunity to gain experience, build confidence, and see where I might belong.

So, what was the experience like?
And would I recommend it to other students?
The answer is: Absolutely, yes, without a doubt.

What I Did

The variety of things I got involved in was incredible, and to be honest, fun. And how many people can say that about work?

My very first task was helping at the Cheltenham Science Festival, where we welcomed families, schools, and curious minds from all walks of life. It was my first real taste of making science accessible and enjoyable. I found myself explaining technical ideas in simple, playful ways, testing not just my knowledge, but my ability to connect.

We had children (and enthusiastic adults!) building wind turbines out of cardboard. Some people had never done anything like it before, and that meant a lot to me, because I am “some people.”

Other events I supported included:

  • Festival of Nature, Bristol: I greeted passersby, encouraged them to join in, and helped run our “Find the Sustainable Job Posters” activity (which came with well-earned stickers!)
  • UWE Family Fun Day: Welcoming families, helping with activities, and watching kids light up as they explored the engineering building
  • Women Like Me Mentoring Scheme: A mentor–mentee programme where I had the chance to share thoughts and be part of conversations that matter.
  • Leaders Awards Day: A celebration of creativity and potential young minds, and I got to be part of the team behind it
  • Unlock Cyber Taster Day
  • And, of course, the behind-the-scenes stuff, setting up, packing down, and tidying. Because every job, big or small, matters.

New Skills and Unexpected Growth

One of the highlights for me was blogging for the School of Engineering, with my reflection featured on the official UWE Engineering Blog:

Engineering Family Fun Day – A Celebration of Curiosity, Creativity, and Community | Engineering Our Future

I also found myself developing science communication skills in ways I never expected. No, I wasn’t giving formal speeches, but I was constantly talking to people, answering questions, guiding activities, and breaking things down in real time. That kind of spontaneous, human-centred interaction is public speaking, just more personal, more alive.

I learned how to tailor conversations depending on who I was talking to. A five-year-old? A retired engineer? A curious parent? Every moment taught me something.

These are the skills I’ll carry forward, not just in my studies, but in life.

A Heartfelt Thank You

This internship showed me a new side of engineering, not just circuits and code, but people, purpose, and passion. I got to work with some of the most down-to-earth, inspiring science communicators I’ve ever met. They believed in me, supported me, and gave me the space to show up as myself.

To brag a little (because sometimes it’s important!), here’s what Elaine Brown MBE, one of the staff I worked with, wrote to my supervisor Sarah Behenna, after the Unlock Cyber Taster Day:

“Just wanted to say thank you for introducing Nicolle, who was an absolute superstar. She was my go-to meet and greet person, welcoming all the schools as they entered the building. I don’t know how many steps she took during the day, but she made sure everything ran smoothly.”

A reminder that it’s not just about what you do, it’s about how you show up.

Final Thoughts

I now proudly include this on my CV:

Outreach and Engagement Intern – UWE School of Engineering
 May–July 2025

  • Delivered interactive STEM activities at public events and festivals
  • Contributed a published blog to the UWE Engineering site
  • Supported event planning, coordination, and inclusive engagement
  • Gained hands-on skills in science communication and team collaboration

If you ever have such an opportunity, take it. It might just be the thing that connects the dots in your journey, shows you what you’re capable of, and reminds you why you chose this path in the first place.

Inspire team feature at the Festival of Nature

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

UWE Engineering’s Inspire Sustainability team took part in the Festival of Nature events in Bath and Bristol city centres between 7th and 15th of June – speaking to visitors about green jobs in our region.

The Festival of Nature is a huge annual celebration of the natural world, with a whole range of activities and events designed to engage local people in the environment. The Inspire team is taking part in these events as part of the Green Futures project funded by the West of England Combined Authority to inspire young people into green career pathways. The project has aims to see thousands of local school pupils and children with special educational needs, but also has an emphasis on family engagement – recognising the role parent’s play in shaping children’s careers.

“Create a wind turbine nature park” was the activity on offer at the team’s stalls at SouthGate Place in Bath, and Millennium Square in Bristol. Over three days, 750 people crafted their ideas for the nature park onto tablecloth collages, all whilst having conversations about the real people who care for nature parks and are involved in installing wind turbines in local communities.

One of the beautiful nature parks crafted by visitors to the festival

At the Bristol Festival during “Wild Weekend”, the Inspire team joined the UWE Bristol marquee and, with the help of a few UWE student ambassadors, added in another element to activities – challenging children to take part in a hunt for green jobs. Young people searched for posters placed around the festival marquees depicting people in green roles – including Engineering’s own Laura Fogg-Rogers.

Local child, Maisie, won the competition and a pack of “Inspire Green Futures” card packs.

Green Job Hunt competition entries

Also on at the Bristol event was the “Great Green Expectations” training session led by UWE partner Liz Lister from Graphic Science – to aid educators incorporating green jobs into their lessons. The Inspire team will be running more of these sessions for educators and ambassadors in the autumn – please get in touch if interested – engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk.

Photos of the team in action in Bristol and Bath – special thanks to Sarah, Nicolle, Dream and Keily from UWE and STEM Ambassadors Peter, Fadl and Ben. Plus Liz for running the training session.

The team had great conversations with a whole range of visitors: from connecting teachers and community leaders in to the Inspire resources, to conversations with a student wanting to use dance to promote environmentalism.

Two wonderful weekends where UWE engaged the community in green jobs – thanks to the West of England Combined Authority for funding this important work raising awareness of the need in, and new emerging opportunities for, green jobs.

Building a Greener Future: UWE Bristol Brings Together Sustainability Researchers

Author engineering | Posted on

In April, UWE Bristol welcomed early career researchers from across the UK for a vibrant day of collaboration and knowledge-sharing at the 3rd Sustainability Multidisciplinary Meet-Up: SHAPEing Net Zero. Hosted at the Bristol Business School and organised by Dr Jill Zhao from the School of Architecture and Environment, the event explored how research and innovation can drive an inclusive, just, and technologically enabled response to the climate crisis.

The event brought together early career researchers from over 30 universities to connect across disciplines and explore themes ranging from climate justice and community-led decarbonisation, to big data, retrofit, wellbeing, and the power of storytelling.

Spotlight on sustainable engineering and community engagement

One of the UWE researchers presenting at the event was Sarah Behenna, Project Coordinator in the School of Engineering and Science Communication Unit. She shared work from the award-winning public engagement programmes led by Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers and Dr Laura Hobbs, focused on engaging underrepresented children and young people in sustainability through the use of Minecraft.

Sarah’s presentation, titled “Empowering Youth: Communicating Sustainability and Green Skills through Minecraft”, explored how the platform is being used to introduce young people to engineering principles, sustainable development goals, and green career pathways. By designing their own sustainable communities in-game, participants gain hands-on experience of building a better future—while having fun and learning STEM skills in the process.

Forging partnerships and new ideas

Also attending from UWE Bristol was Dr Iwona Gajda, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering and a mentor on the Women Like Me/Women in Industry programme. Dr Gajda joined discussions on interdisciplinary approaches to climate action, bringing her expertise in circular economy and environmental systems.

A key strength of the event was the space it created for building new relationships and sparking collaborative ideas. During the day, Sarah connected with several researchers, including Dr Lui Tam from Cardiff University, and together they began developing a potential future grant bid – demonstrating the immediate impact of cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary networking in driving forward collaborative research.

Looking ahead

Events like SHAPEing Net Zero underline the importance of empowering the next generation of researchers to lead change across academic, policy and community settings. With sustainability, equity and engagement at the heart of its ethos, the British Academy and UWE Bristol is proud to support early career researchers as they shape a more just and resilient future.

A big thank you to Dr Jill Zhao for her vision and dedication in creating and delivering such a valuable and inspiring event.

Green Futures workshops reaches over 2000 young people in first 3 months

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

Engineering’s Inspire Sustainability team are leading on a new exciting project to inspire local children into green jobs (thanks to funders the West of England Combined Authority). Last year they recruited 48 local people in green jobs to feature on a top-trump card pack and hot off the printing press in February – the cards went straight into schools and communities!

Visiting 25 mainstream schools, five special educational needs groups and two community events since the launch- the team are are acting on UWE’s duty as a civic university to benefit the local community – raising aspirations for all young people and creating the workforce of the future to deliver Net Zero aims.

Inspiring

The Green Futures sessions have enabled young people in primary and secondary schools to discover what a green job is and how it’s relevant to their lives. They’ve explored the huge diversity in jobs (& people!) featured in the card pack, alongside hands-on activities.

The funding includes a focus on young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and in alternative learning provision (ALP) – so the team have adapted their sessions to engage these groups.

The SEND summits began in April, bringing groups into UWE’s own Prototype & Play lab. In May, that’s continuing, with groups also going into We The Curious and ss Great Britain – learning about green jobs in inspirational settings.

“Really interesting and engaging. Loved the career cards and how they showed a range of skills.”

Parent from a SEND summit

Volunteer ambassadors in green jobs are involved as well – as it’s always an inspiration to meet someone in person and for students to ask questions!

“The children loved meeting people from the cards – it really brought the session to life.” 

Teacher from St Werburgh’s Primary

If your child’s school would like to book in a session please email: engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk (we’re taking bookings from September as we’re fully booked until the summer!)

Connecting

At the end of March, the card pack launch was celebrated with the people featured on the cards, along with local business representatives, teachers and members of the local careers hub. As well as celebrating and connecting the amazing people who’d featured on the cards, the event also marked Retrofit Action Week with three speakers outlining how their roles contribute to making buildings Net Zero.

Find out more about the celebratory launch or explore the real people in amazing green jobs – their profiles feature here and include lots of interesting facts (including earnings ££), career routes and inspirational quotes. Look for UWE representatives – Glenn Lyons, Laura Fogg-Rogers and Roger Griffith.


We’re not just connecting with schools and businesses – we’re also going into communities. We’re joining in with local events and leading our own events in community centres – like St Paul’s Green & Healthy Careers Fair on 19th May – read more and get a ticket to come along.

Want to find out more?

More information about the Inspire Green Futures workshops can be found on the website.

The project is led by Laura Fogg-Rogers and Louisa Cockbill at UWE. Who worked alongside – My Future My Choice, the Natural History Consortium and Graphic Science, the STEM ambassador delivery partner for the SouthWest – to recruit people for the cards and now to deliver to thousands across the region.

Inspire Sustainability team engage children and families about saving on energy bills in partnership with Asian Energy Studies Centre

Author joshuawarren | Posted on

UWE’s Inspire Sustainability team recently partnered with a team from the Asian Energy Studies Centre at Hong Kong Baptist University to conduct some engaging workshops for students at Evergreen Primary Academy in Easton.

The workshop focused on important themes such as energy consumption, energy saving, and renewable energy, and explored with the students the various ways energy is consumed in their daily lives. They gained insights into different energy sources and the importance of saving energy. One of the most exciting parts of the workshop was the hands-on activity: “Power our Future”

Students were tasked with designing and constructing their own wind turbines, focusing on creating efficient blades to maximize electricity production. This activity not only encouraged creativity but also prompted students to think critically about design improvements to enhance efficiency. Students experimented with different blade shapes and shared their findings with one another.

The project also has been recruiting households in the community to signup to a study, providing them with incentives and practical advice to reduce their own energy bills. The team had worked with Evergreen Primary Academy to reach the families of the students involved in the workshop and offer the opportunity.

The workshop is also available to be booked for local schools through the Inspire Sustainability team. If you know of a school or teacher that may be interested in accessing free STEM workshops for their class, then please do contact the team.

You can email the team at engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk or you can check out and download the workshop materials on our Curiosity Connections website here. There are also a whole host of other free STEM workshops to choose from for a variety of age groups.

Funding supports inspirational Green Job workshops for children

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

We’re pleased to announce that the West of England Combined Authority will be funding the Inspire Sustainability team at UWE Bristol to engage local children with the Green careers needed to achieve Net Zero.

The “Curiosity Connections Green Futures” project will use real-life local role models to inform and inspire local children about Green jobs. 

“What do you mean by a “Green” career?” 
“Do you have to like gardening or work in recycling?” 
“How do you get those Green-y jobs?”  

(Questions from local children)

The new resources will seek to answer those questions – helping children across the West of England to understand what job opportunities there are to build a sustainable future for our planet, and how their skills are crucial to that transition.

New partnership to reach thousands

Leading the project, UWE Bristol are bringing together local networks to identify a diverse array of local people in Green jobs to feature in a top-trump card set.

Collaborators include:

The new project draws on the success of the Engineering Curiosity top trump card set released by the Inspire Sustainability team in 2021, funded by the Digital Engineering and Technology Innovation programme. Those cards have been an incredible resource in highlighting career options and the Inspire Sustainability team hope to do the same, on an even bigger scale, with the new Green Job cards.

The aim is to show not only the great expanse of Green career options, but also that people from all backgrounds can enter these careers. So the card pack will showcase diverse local people at all career stages, from entry level to CEO, who’ve taken varied career pathways.

The cards will form the basis of a hands-on green careers kit, deployed by UWE’s outreach experts in 100s of pop-up sessions and whole school events in the next two years. Sessions will be tailored for both primary and secondary school classes, with additional mini-Green summits specially designed to effectively engage children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and in alternative learning provision (ALP).

To maximise awareness and support for Green careers, the project will involve families wherever possible, and this will be a particular focus at big events, such as the Festival of Nature in Bristol and Bath.

Green ambassadors will go into schools with the UWE team to inspire children face-to-face. And online resources will expand on the card profiles, with extra careers information and guidance enabling children to understand how a Green career could fit their interests and skill set.

If you’re in a Green job and want to get involved, please email louisa.cockbill@uwe.ac.uk.

Invitation to be wowed by local budding engineers

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

The Leaders Award competition challenges children of all ages – Reception to Year 12 – to invent solutions to problems they see in the world.

UWE Bristol is the Leaders Award’s partner for South West England. And we’re looking forward to celebrating those local inventions at an exhibition in UWE Engineering – South West Regional Awards Ceremony on Friday 5th July.

Local Engineers are invited to attend the Awards Ceremony and view the exhibition of shortlisted designs.

Get TIckets for Awards Ceremony here

And the exhibition will stay up for UWE Engineering’s Family Fun day on Saturday 6th July. So if you want to bring your family, please grab some tickets.

Find out more & reserve your place

UWE hosts local industry leaders to judge children’s inventions

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

The Leaders Award competition challenges children of all ages – Reception to Year 12 – to invent solutions to problems they see in the world.

Nationwide 71,000 pupils took part in this year’s competition. UWE Engineering is the Leaders Award’s partner for South West England and hosted a wonderful panel of volunteer Engineers to assess local children’s inventions on 23rd May.

The judging panel consisted of engineers from partners GKN Aerospace, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), Thales, Boeing and supporters from Dyson and Airbus Aircraft and DXC Technology – see photo above. The panel had a great time selecting the winners!

Now UWE Bristol is looking forward to hosting the regional Awards Ceremony on Friday 5th July.

Local Engineers are invited to attend the Awards Ceremony and view the exhibition of shortlisted designs.

Get a ticket TO the awards ceremony

The exhibition will stay up for UWE Engineering’s Family Fun day on Saturday 6th July. It’s open to everyone!

Find out more & reserve your place

Over 1200 students discuss solutions and skills to reach net-zero in School Eco-Week events

Author joshuawarren | Posted on

Three secondary schools in the West have recently held Inspire Sustainability Eco-Weeks, with their students learning about the challenges that we face in order to reach net-zero by 2030, and the green skills and solutions needed in order to overcome them.

Bristol Brunel Academy, Digitech Studio School and Hans Price Academy have held events including career stands with prospective employers from the area, where students challenged them on their green credentials; sessions from the DETI Inspire team debating sustainable solutions from real engineers in the area; and interactive hook-a-duck stands encouraging students to identify their own green skills and apply them to the net-zero challenge.

The Eco Weeks form part of the Inspire Sustainability project, funded as part of the Green Futures project from the West of England Combined Authority. Through meeting all our real life role models working on sustainability solutions, it’s hoped young people will gain a greater awareness of the diverse green jobs available in the West.

In the DETI Inspire sessions, students debated targets for net-zero, including lowering waste by 65%, and Bristol City Council’s promise to reduce traffic by 40%, all by the year 2030. Then the students of various age groups, discussed the different solutions to the challenges faced when reaching for those targets. Such as insulating new homes and retrofitting older ones, city planning focussing on low-carbon transport, ways to hold their schools to account for their eco-choices, and the many green skills and careers that would come from the push for net-zero.

Across the week, the DETI Inspire team delivered a whole-school assembly, multiple live school online broadcasts tuned into by whole year groups, 15 fully facilitated sessions, and hosted an employer careers fair.

In total the team directly delivered to over 1200 young people, with future events and engagements also being planned. Many of the students reached have formed school eco-clubs, where they work together with the school to become more sustainable. Many of the students have taken inspiration from the sessions, and brought real solutions for sustainability to the school’s leadership. It’s really great to see that the students are turning to climate action and developing their green skills, and actively making a difference in their school.

To learn more about the sessions, the plans for future Eco-weeks, and to book the DETI Inspire team for future STEM and sustainability outreach, please contact the team at the engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk inbox. You can also download the lesson plans and materials from the sessions at the link below: https://www.digitaltrailblazers.net/resources

Engineers meet to inspire the next generation

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

On Tuesday 13th September, Engineers across the West of England gathered at UWE Bristol to glean insights into how to ‘Inspire young people in Engineering’.

The 20 diverse engineers were led through the “how to” of engaging & inspiring children by the science communication experts from local Bristol planetarium company, Explorer Dome.

Explorer Dome have been travelling throughout the country for over 20 years, providing children with a science experience inside their awe-inspiring inflatable planetariums. They drew on this wealth of experience at the training session, to guide the engineers through the basics, with plenty of examples and opportunities for the engineers to ‘have a go’.

Attendees reported an overall increase in confidence in delivering engineering outreach to children and said the following:

“Great top tips! [I have a] better idea of how to interact and communicate science with children.”

“Presenters know what they’re doing! Inspiring and I hope I can be a good communicator like them someday.”

“Really helpful content and activities.”

With more diverse representation recognised as an important factor to increase the numbers and diversity of engineers joining the workforce, it was great to have so many female engineers present (13 out of 20 attendees), as well as engineers from range of ethnic backgrounds. Thanks to everyone who joined us and we wish you the best with your school outreach!

What’s next to inspire the next generation of engineers?

This training was funded as part of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s public engagement grant scheme – Ingenious – secured by UWE. This Ingenious funding will also be used to extend the impact of Explorer Dome’s ‘We Make Our Future’ show – a show all about engineering a sustainable future.

The show was was originally developed in 2021 as a collaboration between Explorer Dome and UWE Engineering’s outreach team, with initial funding from the Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI) initiative. Now Ingenious funds are enabling the team to take ‘We Make our Future’ into schools in areas of socioeconomic deprivation in the West of England.

The team is also extending some of the content of the show – adding in videos from local engineers, to showcase the breadth of people in engineering and inspire the diverse and socially conscious engineers of tomorrow. 

Some of the engineers seen at training this month, may well become those inspirational role models showcased inside the planetarium in the coming months!

Additional Information

UWE Engineering

You can find out more about UWE Engineering and the activities of the Outreach team on the UWE Engineering our Future website.

Explorer Dome

Explorer Dome is an internationally known, vibrant, popular science outreach organisation.
They travel across the UK presenting live science shows for schools, festivals and special events. Hands-on demonstrations and stunning visuals combined with knowledgeable, enthusiastic and professional presenters: Explorer Dome is presenter-led, lively, interactive and fun!

Royal Academy of Engineering – Ingenious: public engagement awards

Ingenious is an awards scheme for projects that engage the public with engineers and engineering while providing engineers with skills and opportunities in public engagement.

They prioritise projects that reach diverse and underrepresented audiences including communities in the most deprived neighbourhoods in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and that engage with engineers and people of different genders, ages and ethnic backgrounds.

DETI

DETI is funded by the West of England Combined Authority; it is transforming engineering for the digital era and inspiring the next generation of engineers. It is helping identify the technologies that will drive innovation in developing sustainable products, systems, businesses, infrastructure and transport that underpin a net zero environment. It is creating a new, diverse engineering community and systems to investigate, develop & demonstrate the advanced digital technologies and skills needed for the sustainable products of the future.

Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation (DETI) is a strategic programme of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), delivered by the National Composites Centre (NCC) in partnership with the Centre for Modelling & Simulation (CFMS), Digital Catapult, the University of the West of England (UWE), the University of Bristol, and the University of Bath. WECA funding of £5m is match funded by the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and industry.

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