Renishaw hosts FameLab academy students for work experience

3 April 2017

Global engineering technologies company Renishaw has offered one-day work experience placements to students from the 2017 FameLab Academy, a science communication competition for year nine students in Gloucestershire. The competition aims to improve communication skills and inspire an interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers. On the day, the students visited Renishaw's Innovation Centre for a tour and hands-on activities to give them a taste of what a career in engineering entails.

FameLab Academy is organised by Cheltenham Festivals and supported by EDF Energy. The competition involves 1500 students from schools across the county with thirteen finalists presenting a scientific topic of their choice to a panel of judges in just three minutes. The students are judged on their content, clarity and charisma. The participants are supported and advised by STEM mentors from local businesses including Kirsty Wynne and Emma Robertson from Renishaw who mentored students from Wyedean School, a mixed comprehensive school and Stroud High School, a grammar school for girls.

All participating students have the opportunity to achieve a British Science Association CREST Bronze Award and will learn about the careers opportunities in STEM industries. The winner from each school receives a communications master class, a work placement in a local STEM company and a place in the grand final.

Renishaw offered one-day work placements to winning students from Rednock School, Westonbirt School, Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre, Thomas Keble and Stroud High School. On the day, the students were given an introduction to Renishaw and engineering, and a tour of the Renishaw Innovation Centre near Wotton-under-Edge.

The students participated in hands-on activities led by Dave Collingwood, a Principal Engineer at Renishaw. The activities included a technology teardown, where the students learnt about the design and electronics within household items. The students also assembled LED torches and a magnetic top chaser in addition to learning from the experiences of engineers Kirsty Wynne and Emma Robertson, the STEM mentors.

“The one-day work placements gave the students an idea of what life is like in an engineering company,” explained Dave Collingwood, Principal Engineer at Renishaw. “The students were able to develop an understanding of the technology in everyday products, improve problem solving and analysis skills and develop their design skills. It is important for engineering companies to share knowledge and experience to inspire and motivate the engineers of the future.

“The feedback given from students who attended the work placement, upholds Renishaw's belief that actively engaging with students at a young age is a meaningful way to inspire future engineers. Students mentioned that the day gave them a wider view of what careers exist, opened their eyes to how engineering impacts healthcare and even that they would like to go on and study engineering in the future.”

“The students without exception enjoyed the activities and the experiences at the Renishaw Innovation Centre,” explained Ali Mawle, Education Director at Cheltenham Festivals. “Hands-on activities are a fantastic way to get young people to engage in engineering and design, an important step in tackling the skills shortage.”

Renishaw is a global engineering company dedicated to inspiring the engineers of the future. Renishaw supports a number of educational outreach programmes including work with the ss Great Britain Trust, Young Engineers, Greenpower and Bristol Music Trust. The company also offers work experience programmes awarded full recognition by the Skills for Stroud Work Experience and Employability Charter.

For more information on Renishaw's commitment to education outreach, visit www.renishaw.com/en/education-outreach

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