Educational Charity Seeks Teenagers Interested in Connecting with Robotics

Leamington Spa, United Kingdom, March 13, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Independent educational charity The Smallpeice Trust is looking for 15-17 year old (Years 11 to 12) students with an interest or natural flair in Science, Maths, Design or Technology to apply to attend a new ‘Robotic Engineering’ residential course at Staffordshire University from 26th to 29th July 2010.

Sponsored by Staffordshire University, the course is designed to give forty lucky students a unique insight to how robots fit into engineering, how they work and the roles that they will be called upon to perform in the future and the advanced computer software that drives them.

Under the guidance of experts, students will be take part in activities such as communicating with robots using computer programmes, participating in laboratory sessions about artificial intelligence and text-to-speech synthesis and learning how some robots can communicate with humans using speech.

Spokesperson Gemma Murphy from The Smallpeice Trust commented, “We are delighted to be teaming up with Staffordshire University to run this course. The students’ creative thinking and problem solving skills will be put to the test as they tackle programming of robots to perform a variety of tasks.”

Spokesperson Gordon Bancroft from Staffordshire University commented “We welcome the opportunity to work with The Smallpeice Trust in developing this fascinating world of Robotics. Our belief is that the use of robots will become more and more prevalent in years to come in many areas of our lives including industry, medicine, and in our homes. We look forward to welcoming students to Staffordshire University and working with them to develop their knowledge and skills in this increasingly important area.”

All Smallpeice courses are designed to improve core skills such as team building, communication and problem solving and are also linked to the National Curriculum. By attending one of their courses students will gain experience of university life and industry that will accelerate their personal development and their potential for greater academic achievement.

The course is highly subsidised and costs £175 for 4-days full board, all course materials and supervised social activities. Students are advised to apply early as applications are reviewed and places offered on a first come first served basis. Application forms can be accessed from www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk or by calling 01926 333200.

Attention Press:
Media are invited to come along during the course to view the students in action. Contact The Smallpeice Trust if you would like to attend.

About The Smallpeice Trust:

The Smallpeice Trust is an independent charitable trust which promotes engineering as a career, primarily through the provision of residential courses for young people aged 13 to 18.

The Smallpeice Trust was founded in 1966 by Dr Cosby Smallpeice, a pioneering engineer and inventor of the Smallpeice Lathe. Following the stock market flotation of his company Martonair, Dr Smallpeice invested his energy and part of his personal fortune to set up the Trust to ensure that British industry could continuously benefit from his proven design and engineering philosophies: “Simplicity in design, economy in production.”

The Trust is now governed by an eminent board of non-executive trustees and members from a diverse range of engineering, industry, educational and professional bodies.

This year, the Smallpeice Trust reached out to nearly 16,000 young people through over 32 different subsidised 4-day residential courses and 1-day in-school curriculum enrichment activities, offering training in all aspects of Engineering.

A strong interface is maintained with industry, education and professional bodies that help to support, promote and develop the courses. Through these relationships the Trust is also able to provide a number of tailored or specialised courses.

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