RAF launches engineering roadshow for schoolchildren
26 Mar 10
The RAF has teamed up with British Aerospace Systems to launch this year's Engineering Roadshow aimed at keeping technology at the forefront of young minds as they think about subjects to take in secondary schools. Report by Steve Willmot.
Air Vice-Marshal Nick Kurth addresses the pupils at Burdett Coutts Primary School, Westminster, London
[Picture: Sgt Andy Malthouse, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
Helping launch the roadshow at a Westminster primary school was television presenter and wildlife expert Nick Baker, who took scary spiders and gruesome geckos to the school with the message to budding engineers to 'ask nature' when looking to solve practical problems.
Now in its fifth year, the 2010 RAF/BAE Systems Schools Roadshow has proved so popular it has doubled in size, visiting more than 300 schools over the course of the year.
The show, which sees a team of actors presenting to schoolchildren the tale of a bumbling professor working on how to invent a new paint for military jets, will be seen by around 40,000 young people aged from nine to 14 in towns and cities across the UK from Portsmouth to Glasgow.
The show includes workshops that make science and engineering exciting in order to encourage an interest in the subjects, as well as positioning Defence as a rewarding and interesting employer.
Naturalist Nick Baker, currently presenting 'Weird Creatures' on Channel 5, is backing the initiative after his own childhood passion for science and the natural world inspired him to dedicate his life to studying the animal kingdom.
The Engineering Roadshow in full swing at Burdett Coutts Primary School
[Picture: Sgt Andy Malthouse, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
A third of the RAF's 41,000 personnel do jobs connected with engineering, and pupils in the workshops work in teams with a BAE Systems or RAF engineer to use what they have learned about designs such as a revolutionary new wing, or a vehicle to 'walk' across water without breaking its surface.
Designs are entered into a competition, with the winner picked at the end of the tour.
The theme for this year's roadshow is 'biomimetics' - biologically-inspired technologies demonstrating how engineers and scientists throughout history have taken their cue from the performance of animals and plants for the world's most iconic inventions, from helicopters and Harrier jump jets to submarines.
Air Vice-Marshal Nick Kurth, Chief of Staff Support at HQ Air Command and head of the engineering profession in the RAF, chatted to the pupils at the Westminster school and said:
"Our roadshow is designed to interest pupils in science and maths and get them thinking about a career in engineering at a time when they are forming opinions about choices open to them.
TV presenter and wildlife expert Nick Baker (centre) at the Engineering Roadshow at Burdett Coutts Primary School
[Picture: Sgt Andy Malthouse, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]
"Britain needs engineers and technology specialists and this roadshow is a great way to keep these important subjects uppermost in the minds of young people.
"Men and women are needed to build the future high-tech RAF - looking after some of the most technologically-advanced aircraft requires the very best in engineering talent."
BAE Systems' Chairman, Dick Olver, said:
"The schools roadshow is a fantastic opportunity for us to show young people the practical applications of science and engineering in the real world, as well as outlining the rewarding careers available.
"Science and nature are more closely tied together than people might think. There are many great engineering innovations that have been in some way influenced or inspired by the natural world.
"Showing how engineers and scientists are inspired by animals and plants brings science and engineering to life in a way children can easily relate to."