UKESF Scholar Outreach at Cedars School
Everything the UKESF does is focused on inspiring more young people to take an interest in Electronics. All undergraduate scholars are encouraged to get involved and help, as their enthusiasm for Electronics makes them fantastic role models, and we also collaborate with partners to extend our reach. Recently, there has been an example of how this can work brilliantly, with a colleague from the NMI and some scholars from the University of Glasgow facilitating activities with pupils from Cedars School, Greenock.
The school embraces technology, for example by using iPads as a form of interactive teaching and to encourage pupils to express their learning and creativity, as well as an electronic textbook.
The three UKESF Scholars gave a group of children from Cedars School a guided tour of their university labs and also organised a practical drone-building project day, held at the school itself. The visit and project were facilitated by Paul Jarvie (AESIN, NMI) and Jennifer Offord (Deputy Head, Cedars School).
“The UKESF and Paul Jarvie reached out to the Glasgow scholars asking for help to promote Electronics at a local school. Myself and two others obliged, and during a meeting with the class the idea of building a quadcopter was suggested. The kids picked a small (80mm diagonally) quadcopter with a First Person View (FPV) camera and some goggles to watch the live feed through. The school ordered the parts, and we combined the build day with a visit to the University of Glasgow laboratories. The class participated in individual soldering projects and spoke with staff about a report they were writing on the history of Electronics.”
“Ten students from Cedars visited the University of Glasgow and we gave them an introduction to soldering and Electronics with an ‘electronic bagpipes’ set. We also gave them a tour of the labs, showing off some of the projects people are currently working on. I feel the day was a success and the pupils seemed enthusiastic about the project.”
“I helped out during the school visit to the University of Glasgow by helping the children with the soldering and finding faulty wires, soldering points, etc. I also answered questions regarding computing science as I’m doing a joint Electronic and Software Engineering degree and some pupils were interested in having some idea of the differences and similarities. I think the children (and the accompanying teachers) really enjoyed their visit.”
Many thanks to Paul Jarvie and the UKESF Scholars for volunteering their time and skills.