New Delhi schoolchildren experience engineering at Bath
New Delhi children had the
opportunity to experience engineering at Bath when two Faculty of Engineering and Design
researchers visited six schools as Faculty ambassadors.
During their four-day trip to New Delhi, India, Dr Sally Clift and Dr Chris Bannister visited six schools to talk to Year 11 and 12 (equivalent to UK 6th form) students.
Although many Indian students do study overseas, relatively few apply to UK institutions for engineering so this Faculty outreach trip was all about raising awareness of engineering as a career and the opportunities of studying an engineering degree in the UK.
The talks used real-world examples the children could relate to, such as the Bahrain Grand Prix Formula 1. The race was used as an example to show how a single event requires the input of many streams of engineering, from mechanical and electrical engineers developing the race car engine and transmission systems, to chemical engineers developing rubber tyre compounds and even the track itself.
Dr Bannister also gave a short technical presentation introducing some alternative transport fuels being considered to reduce CO2 emissions from cars. The students got involved by drafting a ‘ wish list’ for an ideal fuel and then participated in a quiz with prizes for the winning team.
The six schools gave a very warm welcome to both researchers and invited them to return in
summer 2013 to talk and inspire next year’s student cohort.
