Youngsters Set Sail for a Career in Nuclear Marine Engineering with the Smallpeice Trust
Leading engineering support services company, Babcock, the Defence Academy and the Royal Navy recently teamed up with educational charity, The Smallpeice Trust to offer fifty students from across the UK the chance to gain an insight into nuclear marine engineering.
Leamington Spa, United Kingdom, July 27, 2013 --(PR.com)-- The four-day residential course for 13 and 14 year old students took place from 15th to 18th July, at the exclusive venues, HMS Bristol, HMS Excellent, HMS Nelson and HMS Sultan – where the Royal Navy trains its marine and nuclear engineers. HMS Sultan is also being increasingly used by industry as a venue for apprentice training.
Through a series of practical workshops and lectures provided by the staff from the Nuclear Department of the Defence Academy, the budding young engineers learnt about nuclear power including how a nuclear reactor works and the associated propulsion and electrical generation systems. The students took part in a practical challenge, facilitated by engineers from Babcock, where they had to design-and-make a crane that would have to lift spent fuel rods out of a nuclear reactor. They also did a simulation exercise which looked at the principles of reactor operation.
Whilst on the course, students had the unique opportunity of staying in the Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Bristol moored at Portsmouth Harbour. Social activities included a submarine museum tour and a sports evening. The course culminated with a reception and full mess dinner held in the Wardroom at HMS Excellent where students were able to discuss their achievements with the companies that had supported the course along with specially invited guests.
During the course students developed life skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving and time management, and had the opportunity to learn about the different options available to them if they wish to have a future career in nuclear marine engineering.
Gemma Murphy, spokesperson for The Smallpeice Trust commented, “With the continuing support from Babcock and the Royal Navy, we were able to offer students an enjoyable yet challenging insight into what nuclear marine engineering actually entails. This is real engineering, solving challenges, refining solutions and there is always a real engineer on hand to encourage and support the students.”
Rosemary Prout, Babcock Graduate Training Manager, stated “This has been a great opportunity for these students to gain an insight into the exciting field of Nuclear Marine Engineering and by working with our graduates, providing them with some potential ideas for their future career options. Hopefully it will have highlighted the importance of pursuing STEM subjects: the design and build element of the course is tremendously appealing to the students and it enables them to put their learning into practice.”
Lieutenant Adam Rooke, Marine Engineering Submarines Section Officer and the Royal Navy lead for the course added “Here at HMS Sultan and the Nuclear Department of the Defence Academy, we provide the training for all Submarine Nuclear Reactor Plant Operators, putting us in the perfect position to provide an insight into the world of nuclear engineering and its application to Submarine propulsion. Working alongside The Smallpeice Trust and Babcock International Group has given us a unique opportunity to educate and enlighten budding engineers in the field of nuclear engineering and benefits it has to offer – a collaboration that I hope we can support for years to come.”
The Nuclear Marine Engineering course is run by the independent educational charity, The Smallpeice Trust, as part of an ongoing programme of subsidised 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:
Word Count: 657
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.”
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.
Through a series of practical workshops and lectures provided by the staff from the Nuclear Department of the Defence Academy, the budding young engineers learnt about nuclear power including how a nuclear reactor works and the associated propulsion and electrical generation systems. The students took part in a practical challenge, facilitated by engineers from Babcock, where they had to design-and-make a crane that would have to lift spent fuel rods out of a nuclear reactor. They also did a simulation exercise which looked at the principles of reactor operation.
Whilst on the course, students had the unique opportunity of staying in the Royal Navy Destroyer HMS Bristol moored at Portsmouth Harbour. Social activities included a submarine museum tour and a sports evening. The course culminated with a reception and full mess dinner held in the Wardroom at HMS Excellent where students were able to discuss their achievements with the companies that had supported the course along with specially invited guests.
During the course students developed life skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving and time management, and had the opportunity to learn about the different options available to them if they wish to have a future career in nuclear marine engineering.
Gemma Murphy, spokesperson for The Smallpeice Trust commented, “With the continuing support from Babcock and the Royal Navy, we were able to offer students an enjoyable yet challenging insight into what nuclear marine engineering actually entails. This is real engineering, solving challenges, refining solutions and there is always a real engineer on hand to encourage and support the students.”
Rosemary Prout, Babcock Graduate Training Manager, stated “This has been a great opportunity for these students to gain an insight into the exciting field of Nuclear Marine Engineering and by working with our graduates, providing them with some potential ideas for their future career options. Hopefully it will have highlighted the importance of pursuing STEM subjects: the design and build element of the course is tremendously appealing to the students and it enables them to put their learning into practice.”
Lieutenant Adam Rooke, Marine Engineering Submarines Section Officer and the Royal Navy lead for the course added “Here at HMS Sultan and the Nuclear Department of the Defence Academy, we provide the training for all Submarine Nuclear Reactor Plant Operators, putting us in the perfect position to provide an insight into the world of nuclear engineering and its application to Submarine propulsion. Working alongside The Smallpeice Trust and Babcock International Group has given us a unique opportunity to educate and enlighten budding engineers in the field of nuclear engineering and benefits it has to offer – a collaboration that I hope we can support for years to come.”
The Nuclear Marine Engineering course is run by the independent educational charity, The Smallpeice Trust, as part of an ongoing programme of subsidised 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:
Word Count: 657
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.”
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.
Contact
The Smallpeice Trust:
Gemma Murphy
+44(0)1926 333214
www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk
Gemma Murphy
+44(0)1926 333214
www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk
Contact
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