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STEM mentors can develop new opportunities

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8th November 2019

- News

The Express & Star STEM Challenge sees schools and businesses work together on projects, all with the aim of making a positive impact on the community around them. It is aimed at boosting student engagement. Showing them that what they learn in the classroom can be used in the world of work.

Earlier this year, executives from Petford Group, based in Dudley, worked with students to create a range of games for blind and partially sighted people. One hundred of those are now being used at the Beacon Centre for the Blind. 

Petford Group has been taking part in the STEM Challenge for the last two years and has been successful each time, mentoring students at two different schools. Students also had a rare opportunity to step into a manufacturing environment, which they would not usually get a chance to do that while they are at school.


Kira Edwards, sales and business manager at Petford Group, said she felt inspired by the students she mentored. “It is a great experience and I would recommend anyone to get involved in it,” she said. 

“At the beginning, you worry about how you are going to fit the mentoring into your already busy day. But seeing the students so committed and staying after school hours, even after their GCSEs studies, inspired us. We thought if they can do it, so can we.”

The brief required to design a product that has a positive impact on people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health. 


“We kept pushing the kids to take the challenge that one step further,” said Kira. To get an understanding of a struggle some face on a day to day basis, Petford Group mentors arranged to call local charities like Beacon Centre for the Blind and the mental health charity MIND. “At the charities, children heard about the struggles some people face every day,” Kira added.

It was also great to hear some feedback from the students themselves. One pupil who took part said: “I think it is amazing that people will be playing something that we designed. It is great to think we have made an impact. ” There is a possibility that their Connect 4 product could be put into production and go on the market. 

Girls and woman are beginning to close the STEM gender gap thanks to inspiration from strong female role models. “At the second year’s registration stage we saw that 70% of applicants were female,” said Kira. “If more business got involved in events like the Express & Star STEM Challenge it would definitely change the industry and create more job opportunities for the next generation – it’s time for mentors to step up and help close the skill gap.”

For information on how to become a mentor get in touch with Darren Griffin, corporate manager at the Express & Star, on 01902 314439 or email darren.griffin@expressandstar.co.uk

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Events, News Titles

STEM success for Express & Star schools

By on

19th July 2019

- Events, News Titles

Engineers of the future came up with clever designs to solve dirty drinking water problems, fire hazards for deaf people and the environmental impact of litter.
 
These were some of the brilliant winning products that impressed judges during the finale of the Express & Star’s STEM challenge.
 
Seventeen Black Country schools were given a brief to design a product that would benefit an individual group or the environment.
 
Each team worked hard on their products for several months, before they were put forward to a panel of expert judges at Dudley College’s Construction and Apprenticeship Training Centre, in Brierley Hill.
 
The competition, now in its second year, challenged students to make the products using science, technology, engineering and maths – also known as STEM.
 
Dudley College assistant principal Debbie Goode said the competition was about getting children “to think outside the box” as we enter the “fourth industrial revolution”.
 
Ms Goode continued: “We are keen to promote careers in this sector particularly because there is such a growing skills need in the region. 
 
“There are a lot of industries where the workforce is aged and people will be retiring, and they need people with suitable skills to come up behind them and take those jobs.
 
“We see STEM as being in every part of life. There won’t be a part of people’s existence that doesn’t have some technology built into it, whether that is artificial intelligence, hybrid vehicles, synthetic food, it is going to be everywhere.”
 
Each team had an industry expert to help them and there were five awards up for grabs during the final on Thursday.
 
However, each participating school was congratulated on taking part and organisers said every product idea was impressive.The overall winner, judged by headline sponsor Dudley College, was the Q3 Academy Langley, based in Oldbury, who called themselves The Imagineers. 
 
They made a range of board games for blind people. On the winning team’s table was a Connect 4 game that could be played vertically and horizontally. 
 
The team was made up of Year 9 students. Among them was 
Chloe Yarwood, aged 14, who said: “We have decided to donate 100 games to the Beacon Centre.
 
“I think it is amazing that people will be playing something that we designed. It is great to think we have made an impact.”
 
There is a possibility that the Connect 4 product could be put into production and go on the market. 
 
The first award of the night, for Best Presentation, which was judged by University of Wolverhampton, was won by King Edwards 6 High School, Stafford, who were called Kings of Science.
 
The team designed a mechanical litter-picker which can be used on an industrial scale.
 
The Best Teamwork award, judged by KUKA Robotics, was won by Moreton School, Wolverhampton, who were nicknamed M2. This team made a fire alarm for deaf people which consisted of a vibrating pad which people can put under their pillow. 
 
Wednesfield High won the Best Work Plan award, which was sponsored by Entrust, for their water filter product. 
 
The last award of the day, Best Operating Model, which was judged by Laser Process, was Bristnall Hall, Oldbury.
 
They made a water filter backpack which could fit comfortably on someone’s shoulders. The product turned dirty water into clean and clear water, which the team said was suitable for drinking. 
 
Team member Kaitlynn McKenzie, 15, said: “The whole point was to help people who have to travel to get water. I’m so proud that we won.”
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News

Students receive an insight into vital STEM skills in action at Busch

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15th March 2019

- News

Aspiring engineers from a school in Telford have been given a first-hand look into the design industry as part of the Shropshire Star’s 2019 STEM Challenge.
 
A team of pupils from Haberdashers’ Abraham Darby school have taken part in experiments, learnt how to build 50-tonne pumps and even had a physics lesson while touring Busch manufacturing sites in Crewe and Telford.
 
The event was organised for pupils to take a trip around Busch, the school’s partnered business, and learn what a future career in engineering might look like. 
 
The challenge, which has been launched by the MNA, publisher of the Shropshire Star, was established to promote the importance of the key Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects among young people, while creating key links between schools and the design industry.
 
They have been issued the challenge to design and manufacture a product that has a positive benefit to an individual/group and the environment, or just the environment.
 
Teams of six pupils from a range of Shropshire schools will then need to demonstrate their product as a working model at a presentation on July 4, 2019 at the Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology, the associate sponsor hosting the event.
 
Christine Hewitt, Busch design engineer and STEM ambassador, said: “As a company we’re obviously incredibly passionate about STEM and showing students the different elements of it. 
 
“We took the team to our site in Crewe to start the day off, where they saw more of what we call heavy engineering – where all the machines are made. 
 
“They then came to our system design site in Telford where we were able to show them how the machines are implemented and what they are used for.”
 
Charlotte Statham, science teacher at the school, said: “These kind of opportunities are priceless for the children and it really does give them an insight into the real industry that is hard to find within school.”
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News

Getting an insight into virtual reality through MNA STEM Challenge

By on

8th February 2019

- News

Teachers and business mentors were given plenty of food for thought during masterclasses in virtual reality and 3D drawing as part of the MNA STEM Challenge.

They visited Dudley College of Technology and were shown demonstrations by tutors as well as trying out the equipment themselves.

The event was organised for teachers and mentors who are supporting school pupils competing in this year’s challenge which has been launched by the MNA, publisher of the Express & Star, to promote the importance of the key science, technology, engineering and maths subjects.

Together they will work to design and manufacture a product that has a positive benefit for an individual/group and the environment, or just the environment.

The teams of six pupils will then need to demonstrate their product as a working model at a presentation on July 11 at Dudley College – the challenge’s main sponsor.

Teachers from the Black Country and Staffordshire schools, along with their partnered mentors, were invited to have a tour around the facilities at Dudley College.

They enjoyed a range of sessions including the chance to try out virtual reality headsets and discover more about the technology being used in the construction industry.

The teachers and partner mentors also tried their hand at virtual welding equipment, which allows students to hone their skills in a safe environment. The visitors were also given demonstrations using 3D CAD (computer aided design), robotics and automation, and electrical installation.

Among the schools taking part is St Peter’s Collegiate School, in Compton Park, which has been partnered with Made in the Midlands.

Teacher Matthew Buck said: “The STEM Challenge is very interesting. It is important to give them this kind of challenge early on as it keeps them motivated and helps them see the relevance of what we are teaching them in their key stage four studies.”

Richard Hobbs, from Made in the Midlands, said: “The event has been a really fascinating insight and the facilities here at Dudley College are incredibly impressive. You can really see how they progress students so quickly here.”

Brendan Oakley, who works at AM Griffiths & Son, in Wolverhampton, is a mentor for Pegasus Academy, in Dudley.

He said: “This visit has been really enlightening. It is amazing to see how the technology has changed since I was at school. It just shows how far the industry is changing.”
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