Electronic Engineering Course Causes Buzz Amongst Teenagers

Leamington Spa, United Kingdom, July 12, 2013 --(PR.com)-- From 24th June to 27th June, sixty teenagers from across the UK enjoyed a unique learning experience at the University of Portsmouth.

Sponsored by the University of Portsmouth, this 4-day residential course gave students a valuable insight into the field of electronic engineering. During the course the 14 and 15 year olds students took part in ‘solder-and-keep’ workshops and gained hands-on experience of electronics by designing and building circuits with immediately visible results.

Students were also given first-hand experience of the electronics department giving them an idea of the specialist equipment and resources available at the University. Engineers from GCHQ and QinetiQ supported the event, leading various hands-on activities while also providing students with information about possible career paths.

The main objective of the course was to inspire and encourage young students to consider a career in electronics. The content had both practical and theoretical elements. Innovative thinking, presentation skills and planning were an integral part of the course – key skills that students don’t often get chance to explore fully in their school environment.

As well as working on the design, build and test elements of the projects, they developed life skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving, time management, finance and presentation. Social activities included a movie night, bowling and a formal course dinner and disco.

Nick Savage, Principal Lecture in the School of Engineering commented, "It has been great to work with educational charity The Smallpeice Trust and to host this course at Portsmouth. Electronic engineering graduates are highly sought after, so to enthuse young people while they are still at school is absolutely crucial. I can't think of any better way of achieving this than having excellent representatives from companies such as QinetiQ and GCHQ involved in an interesting project like this. Electronic engineering is a thrilling subject and we really hope that after four days of learning hands-on skills, students will be encouraged to pursue this subject."

Spokesperson Claire Fisher from The Smallpeice Trust added, “Our continuing partnership with the University of Portsmouth has meant that students have been fortunate enough to gain an in-depth insight into the world of electronic engineering. They had a fantastic week taking part in a series of hands-on workshops and presentations and have now gone away excited about the prospect of a career in this fascinating subject.”

The Electronic Engineering course is run by independent educational charity, The Smallpeice Trust, and is part of an on-going programme of residential courses to help young people aged 13 to 18 learn and develop skills in engineering, design, technology and manufacturing. Through running residential courses and STEM enrichment days, The Trust has reached out to 20,353 students across the UK in the past year.

The new course timetable for 2014 will be launched in the autumn school term. Places are allocated on a first come, first served basis. To find out more, visit www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk, or telephone The Smallpeice Trust on 01926 333200.

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 12 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 20,353 young people through 33 different subsidised residential courses, 1-day in-school STEM Days and STEM-in-a-Box kits. The Smallpeice Trust has also trained 913 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.