{"id":13807,"date":"2024-02-10T18:53:57","date_gmt":"2024-02-10T18:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/?p=13807"},"modified":"2024-09-17T11:19:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T10:19:50","slug":"how-the-makers-project-is-supporting-students-to-develop-hands-on-skills-and-boost-employability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/how-the-makers-project-is-supporting-students-to-develop-hands-on-skills-and-boost-employability\/","title":{"rendered":"How the MAKERS project is supporting students to develop hands-on skills and boost employability"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UWE <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uwe.ac.uk\/research\/centres-and-groups\/scu\/projects\/makers\">MAKERS project<\/a> has been going from strength to strength since it first launched in September last year to help improve belonging for diverse engineering students at UWE Bristol, through developing connections with local Maker and Repair communities in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The project is funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, and aims to support diverse students to continue their careers within engineering. Student feedback has helped the team to develop more employability benefits and direct industry links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Networking opportunities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the UWE Repair Caf\u00e9, students now get to work alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stem.org.uk\/stem-ambassadors\">STEM Ambassadors<\/a> from Industry and Community Volunteers from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/bristolrepaircafe\/\">Bristol Repair Caf\u00e9 Network<\/a>, many of which are retired engineers themselves. This is a great way to meet and learn from experienced professionals, and connect over hands-on repair, whilst supporting the wider community and the University\u2019s sustainability goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Free repair kit to take home<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once students have attended 5 MAKERS events, they can choose between a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hobbycraft.co.uk\/\">Hobbycraft Voucher<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.screwfix.com%2Fp%2Fmagnusson-tool-kit-40-piece-set%2F189pg&amp;data=05%7C01%7CKat.Corbett%40uwe.ac.uk%7C5464d2cbc11a41c2a45308dbecf662dd%7C07ef1208413c4b5e9cdd64ef305754f0%7C0%7C0%7C638364315183769475%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=4VIflQDjDcD2IK1Fy0TciKJa5gn1FAXZVXoId2%2BDxIU%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Basic Household Repair toolkit<\/a>, an electronics <a href=\"https:\/\/eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstore.ifixit.co.uk%2Fproducts%2Fpro-tech-toolkit&amp;data=05%7C01%7CKat.Corbett%40uwe.ac.uk%7C5464d2cbc11a41c2a45308dbecf662dd%7C07ef1208413c4b5e9cdd64ef305754f0%7C0%7C0%7C638364315183613205%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=n3dSsxd%2FKkjK5mzF02hrat%2FJUw2P4OY3F5UCnI%2BQNps%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Device Repair Toolkit<\/a>, which can be used alongside the freely available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifixit.com\/Guide\">IFixIt Repair Guides<\/a>. This is to enable them to apply their skills and learning at home, acquiring more confidence and practice in doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Digital Skills Badges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MAKERS student volunteers earn digital <a href=\"https:\/\/info.credly.com\/badge-earner-support\">Skills Badges<\/a>, which can be used on LinkedIn profile and other social channels to help showcase any relevant skills earned, whilst also enabling badge earners to see job postings requiring those skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are three types of badges: bronze, silver, and gold, depending on the level of involvement in the MAKERS project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"879\" height=\"888\" data-id=\"13812\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Bronze-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Bronze-1.png 879w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Bronze-1-297x300.png 297w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Bronze-1-768x776.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"871\" height=\"884\" data-id=\"13811\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Silver-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13811\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Silver-1.png 871w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Silver-1-296x300.png 296w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Silver-1-768x779.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"857\" height=\"874\" data-id=\"13813\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Gold.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13813\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Gold.png 857w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Gold-294x300.png 294w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/MAKERS_Gold-768x783.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Repair Group and Technician Repair Support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MAKERS students can access technician support and facilities to help grow their repair skills and confidence. This includes the electronic maker space, the 3D printing facilities, and the fitting shop, with all the available tools. There are also a number of sewing machines and an overlocker available to use by those with an interest in textile repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Demonstrable Green Skills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The MAKERS project works with the <a href=\"https:\/\/therestartproject.org\/about\/\">Restart Project<\/a> to measure their environmental impact, in particular in terms of how much waste has been saved from landfill, and how many CO2 emissions have the saved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/stats-1024x538.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13808\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/stats-1024x538.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/stats-300x158.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/stats-768x403.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2024\/02\/stats.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Get involved in MAKERS:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students who would like to get involved can sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/Pages\/ResponsePage.aspx?id=CBLvBzxBXkuc3WTvMFdU8Pig9M8Zlh9MkQs24pnBbOFUNTRPS1Y3U1dEVlpQQlpTNTkzWVBCT0kzUy4u\">here<\/a>. <br><br><strong>We particularly encourage women and students from Black, Asian and racially minoritised backgrounds to get in touch!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UWE MAKERS project has been going from strength to strength since it first launched in September last year to help improve belonging for diverse engineering students at UWE Bristol, through developing connections with local Maker and Repair communities in the region. The project is funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, and aims to &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/how-the-makers-project-is-supporting-students-to-develop-hands-on-skills-and-boost-employability\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How the MAKERS project is supporting students to develop hands-on skills and boost employability&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":13814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":223,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191,151,150,119,223,226],"tags":[30,131],"class_list":["post-13807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-action-hub","category-diversity-and-inclusion","category-engineering-and-society","category-engineering-in-the-community","category-makers","category-repair-cafe","tag-diversity","tag-diversity-in-stem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13807"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14288,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13807\/revisions\/14288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/engineering\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}