PhD student Marion James and Part 2 Ship Science student  Michael Beckett  spent an enjoyable morning with Year 9 pupils at Alton Convent School illustrating some of the  exciting opportunities that engineering presents.  A design challenge based on sports equipment allowed the girls to appreciate quite how complex some of the choices faced by engineers are and the opportunities for creativity and innovation to complement analysis.
Fiona Hopkinson who coordinated the event from the school wrote afterwards
‘Many thanks again for your support in providing two such outstanding ambassadors for Southampton University…  Attending the event were 20 gifted and talented scientists from two local schools, and all of our Year 9 students, 67 pupils in total. Research indicates that the ‘leaky pipeline’ for female scientists becomes apparent at A-level, however the decision has typically been made by 14 – hence the timing and target age group of the event.  Our objective was to make the students aware of the many exciting and diverse opportunities opened by the pursuit of science, and the ability to combine engineering with other passions such as sport.
Your speakers were everything we could have hoped for and more – young, dynamic, fun and personable exceptionally high achievers. Thank you!’
 
We were able to provide support at quite short notice to this IMechE sponsored event during Science Engineering and Technology(SET) week. As a group we welcome approaches from organisations who would like to find out more about ship science, maritime engineering and the many opportunities it presents. We are happy to discuss possible outreach activities, ideally the more interactive the better and especially to groups currently underrepresented in the industry.