On Friday March 4th I had the opportunity to partake in Engineers Week 2016 with students from a local secondary school. The students of Coola Post-Primary were the chosen ones and what a fun filled afternoon it turned out to be.
Engineer’s week has been a part of the LotusWorks calendar for ten years now and as a new recruit to the Marketing Department the baton was handed over to myself and my colleague Susanne.
The afternoon involved talking to the student’s about Engineering as a possible career choice and had a main aim to spark enthusiasm in the kids about engineering and what exactly engineers do. For many, they were of the assumption that engineering only related to big manufacturing plants. However, when we spoke them through their daily routines such as the alarm clock sounding, brushing their teeth, having a cup of tea and even getting to school it all pieced together that engineering is everywhere!
“I never thought of engineering having an impact on my daily life. I always thought engineering only related to big manufacturing plants”, one student surprisingly mentioned.
After spending some time talking to the students and engaging in conversation about what engineers do, we then had an “Engineering Challenge” for them. Groups of four and five competed to develop freestanding structures with spaghetti, masking tape, string and marshmallows. Creativity is well and truly alive and it was superb to see how imaginative and diverse every team’s structures were.
As always there was only one team that could claim the much sought after “LotusWorks Goodie Bag” prize but without a doubt the future looks bright for our next generation of engineers
