50 Students Enjoy Engineering Experience with BAE and the Smallpeice Trust

Leamington Spa, United Kingdom, May 17, 2012 --(PR.com)-- From 10th to 13th April, fifty promising 13 and 14 year olds from across the UK benefited from a unique hands-on learning experience at Harper Adams University College in Shropshire. This four-day residential programme was organised by The Smallpeice Trust and sponsored by BAE Systems to engage students and provide them with the opportunity to learn about engineering through a series of presentations and practical hands-on workshops.

Working in teams, they spent two days of the course tackling ‘real-life’ challenges on projects designed and facilitated by young role model engineers from various divisions of BAE Systems. The projects included designing and building amoured vehicles, army transport helicopters, military aircraft carriers, mine sweeper robots and model submarines.

As well as working on the design, build and test elements of these projects, they developed life skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, time management, finance and presentation. Students also benefitted from careers talks which gave them some inspiration about where a career in the engineering industry could take them.

Richard Hamer, Education Director & Head of Early Career Programmes added, ''Ensuring the Company has the right supply and quality of skilled people it will need in the future is vitally important. That is why it is so important that BAE Systems should work now with schools and young people. Our partnership with The Smallpeice Trust enables us to reach out successfully to young people and inspire them about careers in engineering. It is fantastic that through our partnership, and the creative energy and technical skills of our graduates and apprentices involved, we can provide young people with the practical hands on experience of engineering that will help inspire them to choose engineering as a career.”

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. Visit www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk or telephone 01926 333200 for further details.

Notes to editors:

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.

In the past academic year, The Smallpeice Trust has reached out to 18,175 young people through 37 different subsidised 4-day residential courses and 1-day in-school STEM Days. The Smallpeice Trust has also trained 674 teachers to enhance their delivery of STEM in the classroom.

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.