Today, the Isle of Man’s engineering sector continues to thrive, with a focus on areas such as renewable energy, technology, and marine engineering. The island’s skilled workforce and supportive business environment have made it an attractive location for engineering companies.

The future of engineering in Isle of Man looks at cultivating a diverse and dynamic talent pool, bridging the gap between education and industry starting from the earliest stages of education.

Bringing the joy of engineering into schools 

We have been bringing engineering to life in primary and secondary classrooms across Isle of Man with our fully-funded programme and competition working in partnership with Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce STEM Committee ACE since 2021 and closely with University College of the Isle of Man. These activities engage both teachers and pupils in significant ways by creating meaningful connections between engineering principles and real-world applications.

The ACE Committee (Awareness of Careers in Engineering), comprising of some of the engineering companies on the Isle of Man, is dedicated to promoting STEM skills on the island. ACE funding goes towards programmes in education on the island centered around primary, secondary and college education within STEM subjects.

Early engagement: why starting young matters

Research indicates that interest and perceptions of STEM fields are formed during primary school years and solidify by the early teens. This highlights the importance of early engagement in igniting a passion for engineering.

Furthermore, the UK faces a challenge of low awareness and understanding of engineering amongst its younger generation. Figures published by EngineeringUK in 2020 found that 47% of 11 to 19 year-olds knew little or nothing about what engineers do, with some learners found to possess limited definitions that framed engineering as difficult, complicated and dirty work.

Ref: (EngineeringUK, 2020. Engineering UK 2020: Educational pathways into engineering).

Traditionally, many engineers are inspired by someone they know. But what about pupils who lack such role models? The lack of role models for children or a clear picture of what engineers do, coupled with a lack of diversity in the field, is a significant challenge. This limited understanding translates into a smaller talent pool, hindering the industry’s ability to attract future engineers.

Together with support from our partners, we help to lay the practical foundation for a future generation of passionate and skilled engineers, primed to make a positive impact on the world.

A year of growth and inspiration

But how specifically have we been bringing engineering to Isle of Man? Well we’ve been doing this in two ways, with our Leaders Award competition and our Primary Engineer Construction Programme. Let’s take a deeper look..

Leaders Award competition

Our Leaders Award competition is open to all pupils aged 3-19 and asks the question “If you were an engineer, what would you do?”. Pupils are tasked with interviewing an engineer, where they have the opportunity to ask the questions that matter to them, before identifying a problem, then drawing and annotating a solution. Over 2023-2024 academic year, the competition in the Isle of Man has shown incredible growth, with an 85% increase in participating schools.

We enable connections between companies and schools, facilitating in-school engineering visits, site-visits and live online engineer interviews, fostering local brand awareness and demystifying the engineering profession.

This exposes pupils to a world they might not have known existed, empowers them to ask questions that truly resonate with them and gives them a role model. This shatters pre-conceived notions about what engineering is and what engineers look like. Not only benefits companies by creating a talent pipeline, but also exposing young minds to the exciting world of engineering right on their doorstep, potentially inspiring future careers.

Pupils at Ashley Hill School had family members within the engineering profession, who were invited into the classroom to inspire the pupils at the early stage of the competition. It’s wonderful to see parents get involved in the competition and not only inspire their own children, but their peers too. The school commented to say ”The competition has been amazing for the pupils and has really brought them out of their shells”.

The University College of the Isle of Man hosted this year’s award ceremony and public exhibition with 145 guests attending, including pupils, families, teachers and industry professionals. The exhibition showcased each participating school from the region; it was great to bring everybody together to celebrate the pupils for their incredible efforts in the competition.

We have a fantastic opportunity for Isle of Man schools to join an exclusive live engineer interview during British Science Week with Roger Smith, British watchmaker and the only apprentice of the late master watchmaker, George Daniels. His handmade watches are a work of mechanical art and a celebration of what is possible, applying next generation science to what has always been regarded as a traditional art form. Find out more.

Primary Engineer Construction Programme

For the past 3 years, our partnership with Isle of Man Chamber of Commerce on our Primary Engineer Construction Programme has provided the opportunity for 10 schools to benefit from a one-day CPD training course, supplied kit and resources to build up to 30 projects across two classrooms in each school and a celebration event to bring the schools together and celebrate the power of engineering. The classroom sessions allow for 60 pupils to build 15 Lower Primary tipper trucks and 15 Upper Primary towers with an electrical circuit, working in pairs.

Our partnership also facilitated the opportunity for 5 previously trained schools to receive a continuation kit, meaning they could deliver the project again, to a new class, deepening the impact in the school.

Similarly to the competition, The Primary Engineer Construction Programme provides a fantastic opportunity to engage with engineering, meet and work with engineering professionals and develop engineering skills. Thanks to our partnership, we successfully linked some schools with an engineer to support the teacher within the classroom.

We delivered in-person training in January 2024, which allowed both teachers and engineers to be in the same room and train together, establishing the relationship from the beginning. We were joined by 13 teachers from 10 schools who were excited to build their confidence in delivering STEM Projects to their pupils.

“The course was unbelievably relaxing in nature allowing for a great learning setting as teachers enabling us to be hands which allowed us to get to grips with exactly what was required and issues which might arise with children in our own settings. Even though I say it was relaxing and fun it was fast paced and very informative, definitely sent me back to school wanting to incorporate more STEM based projects into every year group.”

Bunscoill Rhumsaa School

We hosted our celebration event in July 2024 at the UCM, Isle of Man. All participating schools were invited to the event, with 71 pupils attending on behalf of the 723 who participated. We had engineering professionals from Swagelok and Manx Utilities with us for the duration of the morning. They were fantastic in engaging the pupils with their interviews and the testing of their tipper trucks and towers.

“A couple of students of mine who struggle in some areas of learning in the classroom absolutely loved the project. One won the award for ‘Best Communicator’ at the Celebration Event, which gave him so much happiness and confidence!”

Andreas Primary School

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see the enthusiasm and creativity that students from the Isle of Man bring to these engineering projects. The partnership with ACE has been instrumental in providing these young minds with the tools and opportunities they need to explore the world of engineering. By engaging with real-world challenges and working alongside industry professionals, students are not only gaining valuable skills but are also getting a taste of what a future career in engineering could look like. This is crucial for addressing the current skills shortage on the island. By inspiring the next generation of engineers, we are helping to ensure a robust and skilled workforce for the future. We are committed to continuing our efforts to bridge the gap between education and industry, and to support these bright young innovators as they embark on their engineering journeys.”

Natasha Kinnear, Head of Partnerships for North West England at Primary Engineer

Be part of the story!

We are proud of our work in the Isle of Man. Are you an engineering and technology professional eager to make a difference? Join the movement and become an ‘Engineer Inspirer’ with Primary Engineer. With our variety of flexible opportunities available, it couldn’t be easier! Simply register your interest by filling out the form below and our dedicated Engineer Relationship Team will be in touch.

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The competition asks pupils aged 3-19 “If you were an engineer, what would you do?” and is free to every school and home educated group in the UK. The initiative encourages pupils to identify problems in the world around them and come up with creative solutions, embedding within them that innovative problem-solving is a key part of being an engineer.

The real impact of the competition comes from Primary Engineer linking schools with engineering professionals to provide meaningful engineer engagement, first-hand introduction to the world of engineering and supporting schools with getting started on the competition.

The engineer engagement opportunities are varied and flexible. Ryan, Director of Engineering at Howden, took part in a pre-recorded online video, a 10-15 minute video talking about his job and what he loves about the world of engineering. The video was sent out to all the schools in Scotland who had signed up to the competition and to date has been viewed by over 2,010 pupils.

”Watched the pre-recorded videos of an engineer very useful but also enjoyed the page with lots of engineers and their journeys/inspiration was very useful for high school students to relate to”. The Featherstone Academy

Plus Howden invited pupils in from local schools to have a guided tour around their site and to interview engineers from different sectors.

Howden’s ‘Bright Futures’ community volunteering programme was launched to aligned with their social commitments to champion diversity, fairness and equality of opportunity. Since the implementation of the ‘Bright Futures’ program in 2021, Howden has successfully connected with primary and secondary schools, community groups and organisations across Scotland. With a particular focus on supporting underrepresented and disadvantaged people within communities, they have hosted workshops both on and off-site to encourage young people to explore Engineering and STEM subjects. Howden’s team of volunteers seek to inspire the future generations of Engineers and Scientists, to break down barriers and stigmas in the industry and to encourage everyone to learn something new and have fun. The Primary Engineer partnership will help Howden achieve their environmental and social strategy which promotes diversity of a global workforce and positive community impact.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Primary Engineer for another year and to once again support the inspiring Leaders Award Competition. We look forward to seeing the innovative ideas and creative solutions from the next generation of young engineers!” Howden

Information on how to participate in this year’s competition is available to all schools and teachers via the website: www.leadersaward.com.

The post Howden and Primary Engineer are back for 2024/2025! first appeared on Primary Engineer.

More than 1000 local pupils took part in the competition, run by Primary Engineer, to answer the question “If you were an engineer, what would you do?”. All entrants are given the chance to interview an engineer and are then inspired to follow their lead by identifying a problem in the world to come up with a creative solution to that problem.

This annual competition saw over 71,000 pupils taking part across the UK, and a record number of 1139 entrants from Jersey. Entries were then graded by local industry professionals before a panel of judges picked two winners and two highly commended for each year group, with pupils aged from 3-19 years old.

Jersey Electricity’s Chief Operating Officer, Mark Preece, Skills Jersey’s Dave Roworth, Sergey Khaustov from Kingston University and Primary Engineer’s UK Director, Chris Rochester, were joined by special guest, The Lieutenant-Governor, His Excellency Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd CBE, for the presentation to pupils on the night.

Mark Preece, Chief Operating Officer at Jersey Electricity said, “Primary Engineer is one of our most loved partnerships. It’s always fascinating to see the world through the pupils’ eyes and see how they would use their creativity and problem-solving skills to find a solution to problems. I know my colleagues who have visited schools to talk to the students always come away feeling inspired by their conversations with the entrants and we are always impressed with the creative solutions they come up with. Well done to everyone who entered this year’s competition – the quality of entries and ideas was exceptional.”

Every year University and Industry Partners of Primary Engineer select an idea to turn into a working Prototype from the previous year’s winning designs. Uniquely two prototypes were unveiled at the ceremony. “The Walkie Frame” brought to life by Thales, based on the idea of Year 7 student, Erin Feltham, from Les Quennevais School and “The Anti-Shake Mug” brought to life by Kingston University, based on the idea of Cara Howe in Year 8 at JCG.

Dave Roworth commented “It has been an exceptional year of competition, by far our biggest number of entries which shows the interest and the talent from within our schools, and a testament to our many schoolteachers who continue to inspire their pupils to think like an engineer and solve problems from everyday living. Congratulations to all the winners, including Year 3 pupil Matilda Howe from JCP, whose idea “The Hungertiser” was awarded the special ‘Judges Award’ for 2024.“

Primary Engineer are recognised for their award-winning work in the UK, bringing together industry and education to deliver engineering challenges for young people and communities, and helping to reduce the gap in skills for this area of the economy.

Chris Rochester, UK Director at Primary Engineer said “The ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’ competition enables pupils around the UK to identify themselves with engineering and technology and to demonstrate essential problem-finding and problem-solving skills. In Jersey, we have again been wowed by the creativity and ingenuity of the over 1,000 pupils who have taken part this year! Our partnership with Jersey Electricity and the support of Skills Jersey and Kingston University means the competition continues to grow here on Jersey with more schools and pupils taking part year on year and for them to have the opportunity to show us how engineering and technology can make the world a better place and to see a potential future for themselves within it.“

Local engineers and companies wishing to be involved in this initiative for 2025 should contact [email protected] to find out more.

The post Record Number Of Jersey Pupils Wow In Annual Engineering Competition first appeared on Primary Engineer.

But what is a grading day?

Each year tens of thousands of pupils from the ages of 3-19 answer the question “If you were an engineer, what would you do?” and their entries are sent to us

With the help of engineering professionals all of the entries are graded (pass, merit, distinction or distinction shortlisted) and every single pupil who enters receives a personalised certificate!

Huge thank you to everyone who volunteered If there’s a heart-warming, funny or super innovative entry that stood out to you today, let us know!

Find out more about the competition here > https://leadersaward.com/

If you want to help us grade all these entries, simply find a location close to you and RSVP here > https://lnkd.in/e-8tYZgp

The post Thales engineers inspired by pupil’s engineering ideas first appeared on Primary Engineer.

A large part of this competition is interviewing engineers, enabling pupils to ask the questions that matter to them, provide an opportunity for engineers to share how they use creative problem solving in their work and inspire the pupils to find their own engineering ideas. Pupils from Troon Primary School interviewed a handful of Engineers to ask about their experiences and careers before going in a shop tour to see the GEnX engines.

This was the first of 6 trips we’ve facilitated for some schools local to the GE Aerospace Caledonian site to come in for a site visit.

Carl Graham, Conformance Engineer and STEM Ambassador at GE Aerospace said “It’s been a Primary Engineer kind of Wednesday at GE Aerospace Caledonian with the visit of Whitehurst Primary P7 Class from Kilwinning. The students had a fabulous day touring our facility followed by interviews with some of our team. The visit was in conjunction with their Primary Engineer Leaders Award program”.

Helen, a teacher at Troon Primary School, said ‘Please would you pass on our heartfelt thanks for being so welcoming and giving our pupils such a memorable, fantastic day. Real life learning experiences like this can’t be beaten and I thought you might like some snippets I overheard or had children bursting to tell me such as:

“This has been the best trip ever. This has actually been the best day of my whole life!”

“I liked the STEM Centre at Dumfries House but this was better.”

“Did you see the size of that engine?!”

“Thank you for taking us to GE, it was amazing.”

“Cameron’s dad has definitely built up a lot of street cred!”

“Hope to see you again next year!'”

The post Pupils visit GE Aerospace Caledonian for the ‘best day’ trip ever! first appeared on Primary Engineer.

The competition asks pupils aged 3-19 “If you were an engineer, what would you do?” and is free to every school in the UK. The initiative encourages pupils to identify problems in the world around them and come up with creative solutions, embedding within them that innovative problem-solving is a key part of being an engineer. Primary Engineer just celebrated its 10th year anniversary of running this competition which original began in Scotland and has grown across the UK reaching 48,000 pupils during 2022 – 2023 academic year.  

The Primary Engineer partnership will help Howden achieve their environmental and social strategy which promotes diversity of a global workforce and positive community impact.

Since the implementation of the ‘Bright Futures’ program in 2021, Howden has successfully connected with primary and secondary schools, community groups and organisations across Scotland. With a particular focus on supporting underrepresented and disadvantaged people within communities, they have hosted workshops both on and off-site to encourage young people to explore Engineering and STEM subjects. Howden’s team of volunteers seek to inspire future generations of Engineers and Scientists, to break down barriers and stigmas in the industry and to encourage everyone to learn something new and have fun.

A big part of the Primary Engineer competition is linking schools with engineering professionals to provide meaningful engineer engagement, first-hand introduction to the world of engineering and supporting schools with getting started on the competition. Over the past year, the partnership has seen Howden directly inspire 465 pupils from site visits with schools and Howden volunteers visiting local schools. Howden’s ‘Bright Futures’ community volunteering programme was launched to aligned with their social commitments to champion diversity, fairness and equality of opportunity.

“I had the privilege of attending two schools for the Primary Engineer initiative to tell them about my journey in industry so far and what I do every day as an engineer. It is so important to encourage and inspire young people to embrace creativity and continue to dream big – the Leader’s Award is a fantastic way to harness this creativity and put it into context to allow pupils to understand the innovation aspect of an engineering role. Volunteering in schools for this initiative was so rewarding – seeing the excitement of the pupils as they turned their thoughts, problems and curiosities into a potential idea or invention, reiterated the importance of outreach and how vital it is to encourage young people to pursue STEM subjects and careers.” Morgan Swan, Mechanical Design Engineer and STEM Bright Futures Volunteer.

Rowan MacLean, Primary Engineer’s Head of Partnerships for Scotland said “Primary Engineer is delighted to be continuing our partnership with Howden on the Leaders Award Competition into the 2023/24 academic year. It was wonderful seeing the inspiration and excitement pupils got from visiting the Howden site over the last year, interviewing engineers face-to-face and learning about the rich history of Howden in the local area. Primary Engineer celebrated 10 years of Leaders Award last year, and with over 12,000 pupils in Scotland alone having participated, we can’t wait to grow the competition further this year with our inspirational partners and inspire the next generation of Engineers!”

Joanne Moore, Product Development Manager and STEM Bright Futures Volunteer said “STEM outreach is at the heart of Howden’s Bright Futures Communities programme. Primary Engineer’s Leader’s Award competition ignites so much enthusiasm from the participants, it was a pleasure to be involved with last year and a no brainer for Howden to sign up to get involved with the competition again for the 2023-2024 academic year. I am looking forward to involving even more of our STEM ambassadors in on-site visits, school visits and grading days. Seeing the spark of ingenuity from the children is very rewarding, as they solve problems that will help others and make the world a better place. The next generation of engineers are out there. I am proud that Howden are involved in inspiring them through this great competition!”

Information on how to participate in this year’s competition is available to all schools and teachers via the website: www.leadersaward.com.

The post Howden has renewed its partnership with Primary Engineer after a successful year of bringing engineering into classrooms across Scotland with the Leaders Award Competition first appeared on Primary Engineer.

The national STEM competition is for school pupils aged 3 to 19 and is run by Primary Engineer. During this annual competition, pupils explore and learn about what engineers do, and they then design their own inventions. These ideas then inspire the engineers, who go on to grade every single submission. In the summer term, pupils are invited to celebrate their engineering achievements at the regional awards and public exhibitions which are hosted all across the UK.

The new prototypes built by Kingston University staff and students, originally selected from the previous year’s entries, were revealed at the event. Kingston University is Primary Engineer’s partner for London and Jersey so two prototypes were unveiled.

Head of Technical Services in the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and the Environment at Kingston University, David Utton, leads the team involved in designing the prototypes and described how they bought ‘The Electric Pram’ designed by Jersey winner Tyler from FCJ Primary School, to life. 

“The Electric Pram will provide a power source that is generated by the movement of the pram, but it also would have an autopilot feature,” he said. “We chose this design because it solves an everyday problem for busy parents/carers and has the potential to be developed further. All the components were manufactured using Computer Aided Design and, as with any good design, we added features to ensure it could be operated safely.​”

Jayden, from Homefield Preparatory School in Sutton, designed The Electric Hybrid Plane which was the overall winner for London. Mr Utton explained why the team decided to develop this prototype.

“The prototype is a plane that runs via solar panels using renewable energy,” he said. “We chose this design because it solves an everyday problem, providing solutions to an ever-growing issue of climate change and carbon emissions. We also like the way in which Jayden provided his reasoning behind the design and the advantages that came with it.​”

Mr Utton also stated how immensely proud he was of his team in making the prototypes and also thanked the students that contributed to taking these designs from concept to the finished product.

Designs from a number of pupils were displayed around Town House through the day before the awards ceremony recognised the best designs. Some of the highlights included a robot that would fight fumes and a machine that turns leaves into paper.

The overall winning design chosen by the judges this year was The Pain Chain, an electronic bike lock designed by Lila, a Year 6​ pupil from Eleanor Palmer Primary School​ in North London.

The awards were attended by Frederick Walker from the Gordon Murray Group and Felicity Chadwick-Histed, Trustee, RAF Charitable Trust as well as a host of Kingston University staff and students. Professor of Applied Physics and Instrumentation at Kingston University Andy Augousti also presented awards at the event.

UK Director of Primary Engineer, Chris Rochester, hosted the event and praised the pupil’s designs as well as the work the staff and students at Kingston University put into them. “Our partnership with Kingston University has seen the exceptional designs of young people both in London and Jersey brought into reality over the past few years and the designs unveiled this year are again a testament to the brilliant team at Kingston University and the ingenious designs of the pupils; I can’t wait to see the designs that they select and make this year,” he said. “Providing both primary and secondary pupils with the opportunity to identify problems in the world and design creative solutions to them is an important way for young people to understand engineering around things that are important to them and to see that there is a potential future for them within it.”

The technician team at Kingston University will now select the prototypes they will construct to present at next year’s Primary Engineer awards ceremony.

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All the young people had taken part in the Primary Engineers Leaders Award. The national competition, now in its tenth year, saw over 48,000 students across the UK take part. It asks students from 3 to 19 years old: “If you were an engineer, what would you do?” and it encourages them to come up with creative solutions to problems they identify in their lives and the world around them.

The competition aims to spark an interest in engineering and provides an opportunity for young people to meet with local engineers and ask questions about their careers and what motivates them. Students are then encouraged to look at the world around them to find problems that an engineer could solve and to submit their designs to the competition. Each entry is then judged by local engineers and academics. The University, one of the competition’s partners for this region, helped grade these entries. Every entry receives a certificate and a grade, and then a selection of entries are shortlisted and chosen as winners.

Some of the winning designs included robots to help sick people, hair scrunchies with emergency buttons to help alert people of your location and an automated bookshelf that can find the exact book you are looking for.

Chris Rochester, UK Director of Primary Engineer, said: “For a decade we have been working with young people to inspire the next generation of engineers, with Canterbury Christ Church University as our south east partner for five of those years.

“Every year we are wowed by the innovative designs that we see. All of these young people are extraordinary and their creativity and empathy to solve problems to help people or the world around them is inspiring to see.”

Preston decided on his design not only as a way of avoiding going out in the cold but also for any accidents or injuries whilst clearing snow from drives and paths. The robot has a heated scoop to clear the snow, which it places in a reservoir. Once melted, the water can be used elsewhere to help preserve water. The robot is also able to scatter rock salt on the cleared paths to prevent refreezing. It also has a GPS sensor so it can identify the precise area to be cleared, Bluetooth so it can be controlled from inside, a rechargeable battery and solar charging options.

Preston said: “I already had an idea for the design before I entered the competition, but I had fun trying to make the design better for the competition. I don’t normally win things, so this feels really good.

“I would like to be an engineer and inventor. I like to try to make things better.”

Once again, the young people this year have excelled in their designs. Children are not inhibited with their ideas to solve problems and there is a lot we should be learning from young people about how to solve problems. It is so amazing to work with Primary Engineer and see all these designs, as well as help make some of them come to life.

Dr Anne Nortcliffe, Head of the University’s School of Engineering, Technology and Design.

The awards evening also saw the reveal of two prototypes from last year’s competition winners.

The first prototype was made by Breeshea Robinson, Senior Specialist Technician in the University’s School of Engineering, Technology and Design. She chose The Magic Cover idea which was designed by Alice (Year 3) from Arunside School. Alice was ‘very excited’ to see her design come to life.

Alice’s idea was to design a cover for earrings that children could easily use when at school, so they didn’t have to tape over their jewellery before PE. By producing a 3D design and then using 3D printers Breeshea was able to manufacture the prototype. She said: “It is a brilliant design that solves a problem many young people have in school. I remember the tape-on-ear solution, and this would be a neater solution and hopefully offer more protection.

“It’s very important to support competitions like this and children’s ideas, which have no limits. Our work can help show them how their ideas can be made into a reality. I hope it shows that anyone can be an engineer.”

The second prototype was “Face for a Plant” designed by Zavier (Year 3) also from Arunside School. His design was made by Thales and it aims to revolutionise how we monitor plant health by using sensors placed around the plant to monitor conditions, such as light levels, temperature, humidity, and soil moisture. The collected data is then processed and represented on a screen embedded in the pot, displaying a face with various emotions, including happiness, sadness, and even thirst.

Zavier said that the prototype was exactly as he wanted it to look.

The post Primary Engineer and Canterbury Christ Church University celebrates with young engineers and their award-winning ideas first appeared on Primary Engineer.

The competition inspires school pupils aged three-19 to take an interest in engineering by asking one simple question: ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’ They were tasked with interviewing an engineer, identifying a problem they see in the world around them and design a creative solution for that problem.

Judges praised the innovative ‘power aid’ idea by nine-year-old Elsa Marie Moorhouse for its ‘versatility and originality’. Elsa, a year four pupil at Wath Central Primary School in Rotherham, beat more than 3,000 entries from the Yorkshire and Humber region to win the overall award and said the idea was inspired by her mum.

“I was really excited when we got the email at school saying I had won an award and I couldn’t wait to tell my mum,” Elsa said. “The idea for the power aid came from my mum as she can’t hear out of one of her ears and she forgets things sometimes – so I thought this was something I could do to not only help her, but to help other people too.

“I was really surprised to win the judges award as well because I didn’t expect it to be me. I never get awards like this and I feel proud and happy. It has now made me want to think of more inventions.”

Elsa was presented with a special, one-off trophy for being the overall judges winner, alongside her year four winners accolade, certificate and goody bag. The university will then select a couple of ideas from this year’s pool of entries to turn into prototypes to be revealed next year.

Emily Connolly and Luc Dewulf from The iForge, a student-led makerspace and engineering workshop run by students for students, based within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield, unveiled three prototypes from ideas submitted in last year’s awards at the presentation evening – which included a pill crusher, pen sucker and medicine helper.

This year’s competition, celebrating its tenth year, saw over 48,000 pupils take part across the UK. The 3,100 submitted from the Yorkshire and Humber region were whittled down to 250 shortlisted entries. A judging panel including engineers from the AMRC and University of Sheffield, alongside engineers from other neighbouring manufacturing firms, had the job of selecting two highly commended and two winning entries from each year group, which spanned reception classes through to year nine in secondary schools.

The pupils, which included five winners and three highly commended from South Yorkshire, received their awards and certificates at a presentation ceremony at the AMRC’s Knowledge Transfer Centre in Rotherham.

The Primary Engineer Leader Award is a great way for young people to be involved with STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) – the AMRC and University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre, is committed to encouraging children to take up careers and apprenticeships in these topic areas.

Cathie Barker, STEM Coordinator at the AMRC, said: “This is the third time the AMRC and AMRC Training Centre has been involved with the Primary Engineer Leaders Award. It asks such a simple question and yet invokes so much creativity and innovation.

“As someone whose role is to work with young people in promoting STEM and careers in engineering as a potential opportunity, this is a fantastic tool. It is completely inclusive and allows children to be creative and inspires their thinking. It also ignites their interest in the wonder of the world in which we live in and if they became an engineer, how they could change the world for the better.

“For the AMRC and AMRC Training Centre, this competition gives us the opportunity to speak with such a wide variety of young people about apprenticeships and other opportunities in engineering and reach out to other underrepresented groups, particularly females. I am absolutely delighted to support Primary Engineer again this year and hope that this partnership continues.”

The awards evening also saw a visit from special guest Dame Julie Kenny, Master Cutler for Hallamshire and Chair of Trustees for the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust, who is keen to see more young people think about careers in engineering.

“The country has got such a lack of engineers and this is why we want to inspire young people and children to actually get involved and think creatively,” said Dame Julie. “It’s events like this that absolutely gives them the initiative they want and to also gain an understanding of other people’s ideas, enabling them to go ahead and become the engineers of the future.”

Nathalie Cachet-Gaujard, Head of Partnerships for Primary Engineer for the North of England, said she was extremely pleased to have the Yorkshire and Humber region’s awards ceremony at the University of Sheffield AMRC, as the last in-person event hadn’t taken place since before Covid.

“The AMRC as a host venue provides a great opportunity for kids to come and start to get an understanding of engineering and what is done here, it works extremely well,” she added. “We had a big turnout, more than we expected and it was a real pleasure to see.

“As this year marks our tenth year, this awards presentation felt extremely special and it was great to see so many entries look at how the pupils will identify a problem very specific to them, someone very close and want to help. They think ‘how am I going to solve this problem and design/find a solution’. Other entries look at global challenges and we see a lot of understanding and concern from young people about the planet and pollution – and a lot think about how they can make this better.

“All the entries we have seen across this region really showcase a lot of creativity and ingenuity about the future. Ultimately, this generation will have to solve a lot of challenges, so it’s really nice to see that this is on the way.”

The post Primary Engineer awards showcase young people’s ‘ingenuity and creativity’ first appeared on Primary Engineer.

They joined the tens of thousands of pupils from across the UK who submitted their designs to be graded by engineers, with every child receiving a certificate and a grade.

Experts from Edge Hill’s Engineering Department helped to judge the region’s entries, and the University’s engineering students will even build a prototype selected from the winning designs to show that school pupils’ ideas can inspire engineers to change the world.

Associate Head of Engineering Professor Ray Sheriff said: “We are delighted to play a part in inspiring the next generation of young engineering minds through this exciting competition. With technology advancing at a rapid pace, these young people could end up working on engineering projects and inventions that we can only dream of. Fortunately, the winning designs show that British engineering has a very bright future.”

The judges’ special award went to Jack K from St Alban’s Catholic Primary School, who designed The Melter Pad, while designs from Friend Maker, Anti-Waste Sink, and Solar Powered Phone were all on display at a special exhibition.

Edge Hill University also unveiled the prototype of the “Anti-Waste Fridge,” designed by last year’s winner Leonardo from Liverpool College. It was brought to life by BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering students Spencer Asamoah and Samuel Molyneux.

The fridge uses image recognition technology to log the food put inside it, tracks use-by dates, and provides reminders to help reduce food waste. Unlike most fridges, it features a host of innovations such as a camera and scanner, power bank, liquid crystal display, and even a mobile app.

Professor Sheriff added: “This was a great design and posed a number of interesting technical challenges for our engineering students, including programming, manipulation of data, and working with image recognition technology. It was great to be able to bring Leonardo back to campus to see the prototype and how it all works in real life. Hopefully, we’ve inspired him to carry on designing and consider a career in engineering.”

Primary Engineer, who runs the competition, is an educational not-for-profit organisation that brings engineering into the classroom through a series of inclusive and fun programmes and competitions, all designed to inspire the next generation of engineers.

Nathalie Cachet-Gaujard from Primary Engineer said: “We are delighted to be working with Edge Hill University and to see our partnership grow year on year. Coinciding with the 10th Anniversary of the competition, we were thrilled to unveil the first prototype created by students from the engineering department at Edge Hill! Engineers inspire young people about the breadth and diversity of engineering throughout the year, young people then truly inspire and challenge engineers who bring their solution to life, a story of real innovation!”.

The Leaders Award Competition is free to enter and is open to all pupils aged 3 – 19. Teachers can register online to access the teaching resources and lesson plans to support the competition, as well as links to engineers from leading companies.

For further information, please visit www.leadersaward.com.

To discover more about Edge Hill’s courses, visit ehu.ac.uk/study.

The post School pupils impress with their award-winning engineering ideas at Edge Hill University first appeared on Primary Engineer.