MEDIA RELEASE
Issued: December 21, 2016
9 Per Cent Is Not Enough: The Impact of the Faraday Challenge
PICTURE: The winning group (front, left to right) Damla Karaaslan, Lauren Heal , Georgia Price, Bayleigh Gardner, Mayita Denenga and Jessica Scotcher (not pictured) CLICK HERE
Thirty-six students participated in the Faraday Challenge Day at The Boswells School in Chelmsford.
The challenge was devised by the Institute for Engineering and Technology (IET) and required the students to design, construct and operate a device that could be used to move a ‘heart’ and a ‘kidney’ into the right positions on a ‘torso’ from a distance of 1.1 metres away.
The IET has a large role in encouraging young people into engineering professions using strategies such as the Faraday, First Lego League and micro:bit competitions.
Their slogan, “9% is not enough”, reminds us of the low rate of entry of girls into engineering-related professions.
Last Wednesday's event involved six teams, half of which were entirely female.
The day was judged by two visiting engineers and STEM ambassadors Alan Dawson and Dipendra Mistry who said they were “very impressed" with the standard of work produced by the students, awarding an all-female team the trophy.
These students were assessed for their creativity and design, their leadership and accounting and, above all, their problem-solving skills.
These skills were found in abundance.
The best two teams will move on to the inter-school competition at The Boswells School on March 1 against those visiting from two local secondary schools, Chelmsford County High School for Girls and Great Baddow High School.
Many more projects such as this are happening in Chelmsford and their effect can only be positive - more girls and boys entering engineering professions because #9percentisnotenough.
|
|