Winners of a “Design Your Own Structure” competition have been treated to a tour of the Engineering Department during which they were presented with prizes to reward their efforts.
Winners of a “Design Your Own Structure” competition have been treated to a tour of the Engineering Department during which they were presented with prizes to reward their efforts.
The four winners were among 800 members of the public who took part in the Crane Construction Challenge event at Cambridge Science Festival in March. Assisted by engineering students, they made a wonderful assortment of imaginative structures from rolled paper tubes joined by nuts and bolts.
Keen to develop their skills still further, some of these budding engineers took up the invitation to design their own structures at home and submit photos of their designs. The creators of the best home-made structures, all of whom live locally, were invited into the Engineering Department to meet each other and show off their work.
The winners were: Paul Seaman, aged eight, a pupil of St John's College School; Roseanna McMahon, aged 13, of Comberton Village School; her younger sister, Kristina McMahon, aged nine, of Hardwick Primary School; and father-and-son team Norbert and Maxim Braunschweiler, who live in Cambridge. Four-year-old Maxim is pictured above.
“The constructions were impressive. The crane that Paul Seaman made at Cambridge Science Festival, helped by his mother Kit, was able to support no fewer than 20 baked beans tins,” says Joy Warde, Outreach Officer for the Department of Engineering.
“There is tremendous enthusiasm for events that bring children and families into the Engineering Department and offer children as young as seven a chance to take part in hands-on activities. Some events – such as Discover Engineering Family workshops - book up weeks in advance.”
The Engineering Department is committed to a busy educational and outreach programme, led by Joy Warde and supported by as many as 150 undergraduates, postgraduates and alumni volunteers.
Joy says: "It's a great opportunity to introduce young people to the fun and creativity of engineering and encourage more pupils to study science and technology subjects. The response from our volunteers has been fantastic. The outreach programme allows them to share their energy and enthusiasm for engineering with young people in a really fun way."
In the past year more than 1,000 school children and 350 local families have visited the Engineering Department for hands-on engineering design challenges. These range from Rocket Launch Pad sessions for primary schools to residential summer schools for sixth form students.
For more details, visit http://www3.eng.cam.ac.uk/outreach/ or e-mail Joy Warde at outreach-officer@eng.cam.ac.uk
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