UKESF supports successful Smallpeice Trust courses in 2017

This year the UKESF extended its partnership with The Smallpeice Trust by undertaking two collaborative projects for secondary school students in the summer term: a Biomedical Electronics Residential Course, hosted by Cardiff University, and an Electronic Engineering Residential Course, hosted by the University of Sheffield.

Stew Edmondson, CEO of the UKESF, said, “These new courses show that we are doing more to promote Electronics. I really value our relationship with The Smallpeice Trust; they share our values and deliver some great experiences for children.”

Biomedical Electronics Residential Course: 26th–29th June

Attended by 29 16–18-year-olds (43% female) in June, this full-board course focused on a rapidly growing area of societal interest and gave attendees a first taste of university life. Academic content was supplied by Cardiff University, with the UKESF providing financial support. As part of a variety of talks and activities, students undertook a series of laboratory sessions and were tasked with building a temperature sensor calibrated to human skin.

Feedback highlighted the hands-on lab experience, knowledgeable facilitators and helpful advice from graduates, as well as mentioning the benefit of meeting people of the same age with similar interests. 78% of attendees rated the course as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ and 79% reported that it had increased their interest in engineering in general.

Electronic Engineering Residential Course: 18th–20th July

This full-board course in July was attended by 48 Year 9 students from state schools and centred around a ‘Mars rover’ scenario, with the attendees building and programming a remote-controlled rover buggy. The UKESF, along with ARM, supported The Smallpeice Trust by helping with facilitation of the course and delivering content, as well as contributing to the design of buggy.

Feedback praised the welcoming facilitators and highlighted the fundamental electronics skills acquired as a result of the course. 90% of attendees rated the course as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ and 91% reported that it had increased their interest in engineering in general, with 76% reporting that the course had persuaded them to follow a career in Electronic Engineering.

Many thanks to the UKESF scholars who contributed to the courses – Richard and Ryan, who shared their study and work placement experiences during the Biomedical Electronics teatime session, and David and Eddie, who helped develop the engineering project and provided facilitation support (respectively) at the Electronic Engineering Course.