The Construction Equipment Association (CEA) is inspiring the next generation of engineers with a celebration event for school children.
Pupils, aged between eight and 10, from a number of primary schools in the Leicestershire area in the UK were invited to the showroom of Coventry-based robotics company FANUC UK during the last week of the school term to present vehicles they had constructed with help from teachers and Primary Engineer staff.
Laura Frankham, events account manager at Primary Engineer, said, “Events like this one encourage children to gain more of an understanding of what it means to be an engineer. By working with parents, teachers and children, our goal is to inspire the next generation of engineers through practical, fun and collaborative programs.”
Vehicles were judged on the design, material elements, quality of build, distance and accuracy of travel, with senior figures from GKD Technologies and Nylacast included on the panel.
Winners recognized
Winners received medals and certificates from CEA’s chief executive Rob Oliver and FANUC UK’s sales and marketing manager, Andrew Armstrong.
UK Plant Operators also provided a machine simulator at the event, providing the schoolchildren with the opportunity to operate a dump truck on a virtual building site.
Rachel Williams, the science lead at The Dassett Church of England Primary School, Southam, said, “This has been an excellent project for us and its impact has been far reaching. Attending the celebration event has been very beneficial – a day to remember!
“The children were also enthralled by the simulator machine – what a thoughtful and useful addition to the day. We have one young boy in our class who struggles with literacy – he enjoyed making the model and was so engaged with the entire project – but to also get to operate a machine on a simulator was the icing on the cake for him. We will be including this in the curriculum in the next school year.”
