The Industrial Cadets Gold Mentored Projects is a programme run by UK education charity Engineering Development Team (EDT) to enable young people to connect directly with industry. Launched in 1984, the programme gives Year 12 and S5/6 students the opportunity to gain insight into the world of work through 60 hours of project-based work experience, tackling real sector problems, while being mentored by industry professionals.
Senior Engineer Alex Davies from our mechanical design team and Junior Consultant Anwen Davies from our Requirements, Acceptance and Systems Engineering team were recognised with the Innovation Award for their work mentoring six Year 12 students from Mossbourne Academy in Hackney, North London. Under the supportive and expert nurturing of their mentors the students, who are all taking science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects turned their creativity and innovative thinking to tackle 20 key requirements from a real-world engineering challenge - currently being undertaken for a client by Frazer-Nash engineers - to design a product to enable Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients to retain independence with tasks such as washing their own hands.
The EDT Industrial Cadets celebration event, which took place at Notting Hill and Ealing High School GDST was graced by teams of students from around London and the South East of England, together with their teachers and mentors. Anwen was proud to be at the event with all six of the students and their teachers from Mossbourne Academy.
Commenting on what it meant to him to support the students, Alex said: “We wanted to take a project which we felt instinctively would be an inviting one for the students because they could see the real-life applications of engineering to improve the lives of teenage patients and have the feel-good factor of doing something meaningful for a charity, Duchenne UK.”
“We introduced the project and the initial set of requirements, and then the students worked on the project for three hours every week for five months. As mentors, we spoke to them each week and were impressed about how incredibly engaged they were: they chose to do the project and have really wanted to do the work. To see their efforts rewarded with the Innovation Award was amazing.”
Anwen agreed, saying: “I was honoured to attend the celebration ceremony and actually present the Innovation Award to the students. I’ve done quite a lot of STEM activities previously, principally going into primary and secondary schools to give presentations on engineering. It’s important to me to take the opportunity to inspire pupils and students, and to help with representation.”
“The beauty of the project is that it genuinely enabled two-way learning: Alex and I were able to guide and mentor the students but equally, we learned a lot from that. Being part of the project felt very fulfilling both on a personal level and professionally because it was genuinely mutually beneficial. Mentoring the students enabled me to improve some of my skills, such as how I approach communication, but even more importantly, I feel like I’ve made an impact on a group of people who are deciding to do what they want to do with their lives and try and work out whether engineering is for them or not. I found it rewarding to help them by showing them my world, encourage them where it’s needed and explain things that they want to know about. It was really fulfilling being able to give back.”
Dave Richards, who heads up the mechanical design team and who oversees our design projects for Duchenne UK said: "Alex Davies and Anwen Davies have done an outstanding job in supporting a cohort of 'Industrial Cadets' by setting them a Duchenne muscular dystrophy related design challenge and expertly and thoughtfully mentoring them through their individual projects.”
“As a company of scientists and engineers, it’s essential that each one of us understands that we have an important role to play in helping to inspire the next generation of STEM professionals. We were all delighted to hear that two of the students are now actively contemplating engineering careers on the strength of their experience, which is a testament to the brilliance of Alex and Anwen as ambassadors not just for Frazer-Nash but for the profession of engineering.”
“I am delighted that Alex and Anwen have been doubly rewarded from their experiences: the inspiration that they have taken from the students and the recognition of the Innovation Award. Very well done to Alex and Anwen.”
