On Wednesday 16th July, we welcomed 80 primary school students to Eyebox as part of the Primary Engineer Programme in an effort to inspire the future engineers.
Primary Engineer is an educational, not-for-profit organisation established in 2005 to engage both primary and secondary aged pupils in engineering activities. The Primary Engineer Vehicle Programme provides schools with the free kits, a day's training, and a full set of classroom resources and online guides. The kits are tailored for both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 classes with KS1 students learning how to make a push car, and KS2 students taking it to the next level by learning how to hook up a circuit to make a battery-powered vehicle.
Core aims of Primary Engineer include the development of children and young people through engagement with engineering and the promotion of engineering careers through inspiring programmes and competitions. Morelli Group along with NBRA, ABP Club, AutoPlas, Stellantis, and Axalta funded 10 local schools in the Coventry area to take part in this activity.
Back in March, the teachers were invited to Eyebox to learn how to make the push car and battery-powered vehicle. The teachers were then sent back to their classrooms to teach the students the engineering skills and techniques they had learned for the students to use the same methods to create their vehicles in pairs.
Select students and their teachers returned to Eyebox for a fun day of testing, along with other activities such as spray-gun decorating, vehicle design, and tower building. Students were chosen by their teachers based on their engagement, aptitude, and enthusiasm towards the tasks and engineering itself. The vehicles were judged by a rigorous panel on distance, speed, and accuracy and students were also interviewed to discuss their designs, both practically and aesthetically, to encourage confident communication.
We were incredibly impressed with the standard of work by the students as well as the interest many of them showed in engineering and vehicle repair. The children showed a great ability to combine fun designs with creative engineering and displayed effective teamwork and clear communication skills.
Questions were encouraged in order to spark imaginations and inspire future generation on a career in the automotive industry. It was a joy to see so many of the students interested in our facilities, changing their perceptions on what an engineering or crash repair career may look like.
Thank you to the judges, teachers, staff, and pupils who were a part of this day. The future of automotive looks bright!
