Students on Track with Smallpeice Trust Railway Engineering Course

Leamington Spa, United Kingdom, May 16, 2012 --(PR.com)-- From 10th to 13th April, one hundred students gathered at the University of Liverpool to attend a specially designed Railway Engineering residential course. Sponsored by the National Skills Academy for Railway Engineering (NSARE) and The Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust (The LRET), this course forms part of a major initiative to encourage young people to consider railway engineering as a future career. Cutting across many disciplines, the course explored the design, construction and operation of railways and gives a valuable insight into what our future railways could look like.

Over the four days, the pupils had the opportunity to learn about railway engineering through a series of presentations and practical exercises. Working in teams, they tackled ‘real-life’ challenges on projects designed and facilitated by young engineers from industry. These organisations included Babcock Rail, FirstGroup plc, Network Rail and Transport for London. Projects included designing and building: a train for towing materials; a railway track complete with bends; hills and tunnels and an operational signalling system.

As well as working on the design, build and test elements of the projects, the students developed life skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, time management, finance and presentation. The social programme included a film night, sports activities and a formal dinner and disco.

Michael Franklin, Director of The LRET commented:
“For a second year, The LRET has agreed to support Smallpeice’s railway engineering Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Days and a residential course. The Smallpeice initiatives give young people an understanding of the skills they need to develop to equip them for the new and increasing opportunities that we are seeing in this fast-moving sector.”

Gil Howarth, Chief Executive of NSARE added:
“The Railway Engineering industry offers young people great career opportunities. Now more than ever before is an exciting time to join the industry with a huge amount of money and new technology being invested in our railways to ensure they are world class. There are opportunities for young people to join the industry from school as apprentices or graduates with the opportunity to progress in their career development as far as they wish, quite literally as the industry offers career opportunities across the world for those who wish to pursue them.

"We are delighted to be working with The Smallpeice Trust and The LRET and to raise awareness of the exciting career opportunities Railway Engineering can offer young people."

Dr Andrew Cave, Chief Executive of The Smallpeice Trust added:
“We are most grateful for the support from NSARE and The LRET on this programme. Rail is one of the greenest ways of getting from A to B and massive investment is being injected into our railway infrastructure. Giving young people an opportunity like this to discover for themselves the excitement, challenge and reward of a career in railway engineering is a vital step in encouraging the engineers of tomorrow.”

These activities spark an interest in engineering and science, igniting a genuine desire for many to consider careers in these fields. This is particularly encouraging amongst those who have traditionally had limited or no history of engagement with this type of activity. Following the success of the pilot course in 2011 The LRET and NSARE are also sponsoring an advanced Railway Systems Engineering course for 15 to 17 year olds in the summer which will take place at the University of Birmingham.

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

The Smallpeice Trust Engineering Experience course is part of an ongoing programme of subsidised residential courses to help young people aged 13 to 18 develop skills in engineering, design, technology and manufacturing.

Founded by Dr Cosby Smallpeice in 1966, The Trust has grown tremendously over the past 46 years, helping thousands of young people find a successful career in a multitude of disciplines within the industry from engineering materials, marine technology and naval architecture to nanotechnology and structural engineering. Through running residential courses and STEM enrichment days, 18,175 students have attended a Smallpeice activity in the past year.

Bookings are now being taken for summer residential courses including another presentation of the Railway Engineering Course at Askham Bryan College, York from 30th July – 2nd August 2012. Visit www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk or telephone 01926 333200 for further details.