Exploring Engineering

Wardle Academy student building his own set of headphones using a magnet, copper wire, paper cup and an audio socket

In January, a group of Wardle Academy 15 Year 10 students attended the ‘Exploring Engineering Day’ at the University of Manchester to learn about different kinds of engineering courses and related careers.

The day began with a presentation from Matt Gunther, a PHD student with Nuclear First, who had studied Astrophysics at Manchester and was now researching alternative ways to manage radioactive waste in the UK. He gave an interesting and insightful talk about the wide range of engineering courses and careers available.

The students were then given a tour of the University campus by Adam, the student ambassador assigned to the group for the day.

Following this was the first workshop ‘Electrical and Electronic Engineering’. The students were introduced to this activity by Omar, another student at the University of Manchester, who was working on methods to detect and deal with landmines.

Wardle Academy students had the opportunity to find out about the many types of courses and jobs in this area. During this workshop they built their own set of headphones using a magnet, copper wire, paper cup and an audio socket. They could then plug them into their phones and listen to their music.

Later, after having experienced lunch in the University canteen, they moved onto the second workshop of the day ‘Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering’.

This was delivered by Aneeqa Khan, a PHD student working with MACE on the design of space vehicles. She explained about the numerous and wide ranging courses and career opportunities available in this area.

Working in groups the students were set the challenge of designing a school on Mars. They collaborated together to discuss issues, ideas, planning, designing, creating and building before presenting their final model to other teams from other schools.

The day concluded with a question and answer session with current students at Manchester University.