25th July 2019
Royal Holloway hosts budding young female engineers
Over one hundred future female engineers ranging from age 14 up to 16 and from across the UK, benefited from a unique hands-on learning experience at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Three, three-day residential programmes were organised by The Smallpeice Trust and supported by Royal Holloway, and The UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF) to provide students with the opportunity to learn about engineering through a series of technical lectures and design-and-make projects.
Students on the Girls into Physics course learned everything from particle physics and accelerators to condensed matter and astronomy, through hands-on workshops with the experts in an engaging and creative way. They immersed themselves in exploring the quantum world at ultra-low temperatures and understanding the physics of elementary particles at the very highest energies.
This course was emboldened by The Girls into Physics Mentoring programme which run alongside the Physics course, providing valuable support for the younger students and great leadership experience for the older girls.
The Girls into Electronics course, supported by UKESF taught students how to programme a BBC Micro:bit and learn all about microwave photonics and sensors, as well as having the opportunity to network with professionals from the Electronics industry. The girls were also tasked with designing and building their own robots.
A student on the course said, “I’ve had a great time and learned so much in a short space of time It’s been so interesting and great working alongside other likeminded females.”
Jessica Lee Education Officer for the Trust said: “The girls were totally engaged in the activities and displayed a real passion for meeting challenges and solving problems. With only 11% of engineers in the UK being female, there is a pressing need for female engineers and The Smallpeice Trust courses are a great way of showing our most capable young people the attractions of a fascinating scientific career”
The courses are designed to enhance students’ aptitude for creative thinking, design and engineering and was especially geared to complement the National Curriculum.
Accommodation, food and supervision at the university is included, as well as combined social activities on campus of an evening.
The new course timetable for 2020 will be launched in the autumn school term.