DETI Inspire at UWE Bristol are running a series of engineering engagement events with local schools during British Science Week this year (5th-14th March) called The Big Beam Infor British Science Week and they invite anyone currently studying or working in engineering to take part.
The Big Beam In aims to connect children throughout the South West with real-life engineers and showcase the diversity of engineering, its people, skills and future career opportunities.
The sessions will take place virtually and full lesson plans and guidance are provided to all teachers and engineers taking part. These lessons are themed around DETI Inspire’s latest school resource Engineering Curiosity – a set of top-trump style cards which have been created with engineers across the region.
If you are an engineer and would like to take part in some online outreach and engagement activities with schools in your local area, register your interest using this online form today!
I’m an Engineer is an online STEM engagement and enrichment project that connects students with real engineers online.
And this year, the DETI Inspire team from UWE Bristol have teamed up with I’m an Engineer to show students the positive impacts of digital engineering.
Engineers from across the region are invited to take part in the Youth Engagement with Engineering and Sustainability Summit (YEESS!) to help school students see engineering’s impact on sustainability and the future of our planet.
Together with DETI, I’m an Engineer will run 3 activities for schools in the West of England as part of the DETI Inspire programme.
In March and June 2021 , students can Ask engineers questions, Chat to them in live text-based Chats, and Vote for their favourite engineer to win £500 to put towards further outreach.
In October 2021 , engineers who have taken part in March and June will be given the opportunity to discuss sustainability and engineering with students ahead of COP26 (UN Climate Change Conference) as part of the Youth Engagement with Engineering and Sustainability Summit.
Help students understand the role engineering has to play in making the world more sustainable
Engage school students in the West of England with your work
Help students see engineering as something ‘for them’
Improve your communication skills
I’m an Engineer is accessible and flexible to fit around your schedule – the Zones take place over 4 weeks, and you can choose to participate in live Chats at a time that suits you. You only need access to a computer or tablet, and Internet access, to take part.
The Metre Zone (1st-26th March) is funded by the Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation initiative (DETI), as part of the Inspire programme led by the Engineering, Design and Mathematics Department at the University of the West of England (UWE).
Engineering Curiosity is a new engineering themed resource developed for KS2&3 pupils by the DETI Inspire programme at UWE Bristol, in partnership with My Future My Choice.
The resource features a set of 52 ‘top-trump’ style cards, each themed on a real-life local engineer from the West of England region. Through the cards, children can explore the diversity of engineering, its people, skills and future career opportunities.
Each card will be available in both a physical and digital format, so schools can engage students working in the classroom and also those working remotely from home.
The digital cards will be hosted on the Curiosity Connections website – a network connecting people and organisations in the West of England with inspirational primary STEM education, managed by the DETI Inspire team at UWE Bristol and Graphic Science, the STEM Ambassador hub West of England.
The cards will also feature in a series of online events held during British Science Week this year (5th-14th March), where engineering ambassadors will pair up with local schools as part of the Engineering Curiosity Big Beam In!
During the Big Beam In, engineers will have the opportunity to ‘beam’ into a local school and participate in their lesson virtually, answering children’s questions about their role and skill set, and discussing how engineers can make a real difference to people’s lives and the world around us.
The Engineering Curiosity Big Beam In aims to connect children throughout the West of England with real-life engineering role models and foster a curiosity for all things engineering.
If you are an engineer and would like to volunteer for the Big Beam In, you can register to take part here. If you are a local business and would like to support the Big Beam In, you can sponsor a school to receive their own pack of Engineering Curiosity cards. Please contact deti@uwe.ac.uk for more details.
Digital Engineering Workshops: Aligning Skills Requirements – 22nd to 29th of January
The DETI Innovate programme led by the Engineering, Design and Mathematics Department at UWE Bristol, are hosting a series of workshops to determine the skills and knowledge required in the engineering workforce that will enable Industry 4.0 technologies to be effectively deployed and used widely by UK manufacturing.
The insight gained from these workshops will support development of the technical education and training provision required to develop these skills and knowledge as a series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses.
DETI Innovate are now looking for local participants with a good understanding of the product development lifecycle within an Engineering Manufacturing context. If you are interested in joining a workshop, or if you have some experts in the field, please select your preferred date from this doodle poll.
For more information about the DETI Innovate programme and associated workshops, please contact Pedro Lafargue, Research Fellow, UWE Bristol.
UWE Bristol have partnered with Primary Engineer supporting their ‘If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?®’ competition for South West England for the fourth consecutive year. The University’s Engineering, Design and Mathematics Department (EDM) are also supporting the ‘Primary Engineer Structures and Mechanisms with Basic Electrics‘ project this year, as part of their new programme of work for the Digital Engineering Technology Innovation (DETI) initiative for the West of England region.
We are thrilled to have UWE Bristol continue as a University partner for ‘If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?’ and to also fund the ‘Primary Engineer Structures and Mechanisms with Basic Electrics project’ through DETI. Winning designs from ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’ will continue to be developed and built by UWE Bristol engineering students into a full-scale functioning prototypes, giving the school pupils who entered the competition insight into the process behind designing and manufacturing a product as well as seeing their design brought to life.
Chris Rochester, UK Director at Primary Engineer
Primary Engineer Programmes
The Primary Engineer Structures and Mechanisms with Basic Electrics project begins with a one-day CPD course for primary teachers which enables them to deliver the engineering projects with Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils. Teachers are provided with sets of tools, consumables and online resources as part of the fully funded project and will be partnered with engineering professionals from UWE and local businesses to provide a real-world context to the learning.
If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?® asks pupils from early years, primary schools and secondary schools to identify a problem in the world and design a solution to it. Inspired by interviewing engineering professionals from a range of roles, pupils are encouraged to ‘find the engineer they could be’ by designing the future of engineering. Alongside their annotated drawings, pupils write an accompanying letter to persuade the judges to select their design to be one of a number of designs to be built by UWE Bristol.
The DETI Inspire Programme
EDM are leading the Skills Development branch of DETI, establishing an engineering engagement hub for the West of England, based out of their new state-of-the-art School of Engineering building, and delivering three Skills programmes: Inspire, Transform and Innovate. Encouraging diversity and inclusivity, DETI Inspire engages children in primary and secondary education across the West of England, with a focus on disadvantaged areas. Using curriculum-linked engineering outreach and careers support, the programme connects children with real-life, diverse engineering role models via the Diversity Demonstrator, to widen participation and aspirations for STEM careers.
We are really pleased to partner with Primary Engineer to support our DETI Inspire educational programme. Supporting teachers to engage with STEM activities is so important, as they are critical influences in young children’s lives. There are so many exciting careers available in engineering, and it all starts with children learning that they have the power to make a difference in the world
Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers, DETI Inspire Lead
About Primary Engineer
Primary Engineer is an educational not-for-profit organisation that provides a suite of programmes to encourage children from 3 to 19 years to consider STEM and data careers. Primary Engineer inspires children, pupils, parents and teachers through continued professional development, whole class project work, competitions, and engagement with industry professionals to ensure the learning has a context to the wider world.
Primary Engineer promote engineering and data careers and address the diversity and gender imbalance in engineering and data with early years, primary and secondary pupils. Primary Engineer has won accolades over the years including successive Red Rose Award’s for ‘Skills and Training Provider of the year’, Burnley Councils’ Chief Executive’s’ Award for bringing ‘Education and Industry together’ and featured in the Scottish Government’s Manufacturing Future for Scotland and the Engineering Skills Investment Plan. For further information visit www.primaryengineer.com.
