We (PPL PWR) conducted the trial workshop in the Knight’s Templar School, Baldock.

A lot of people have a narrow, stereotypical image of what an engineer looks like, which no doubt forms a barrier to engaging with engineering and contributes to the wider shortage of engineers from a range of diverse background; which is why young curious minds of all capabilities need to see the whole exciting field of engineering. So we had the students draw an engineer.

As expected, a good number of their current images of engineers were male and with a helmet – reflecting cultural idea that women aren’t ‘meant for’ engineering, which needs to change to address the challenges facing the engineering profession.

"I enjoyed the hands on learning"

-Student, Knight’s Templar School.

Josh and Anna introduced the workshop and talked a bit about what and where engineering is in 2018. After, Yashvini and Adam gave the students the necessary scientific information to inspire them and enable them to tackle their hands on task, which was to build their own wind turbine from plastic bottles in under 30 minutes to be tested on the mini-motors.

From each group of 5-6 students, the bottle blade that produced the most voltage after being subjected to wind from a fan was taken to the next stage to decide the winner among all 4 teams. The excitement was palpable.

Shorter bouts of lecture-style teaching interspersed with related practical activities retained the students’ attention and engagement more than the longer sections. It was lovely to see some of the students who began the session more nervously grow in confidence as they were encouraged to try and make mistakes and try again during the workshop. We hope our trial workshop inspired the students to ask more and more questions and to solve big problems that humanity is currently facing.

“The most valuable part of the workshop for me was learning about how an engineer was different from the stereotype”

- Student, Knight’s Templar School.