Young Engineersour achievements, aspirations

and how to support us

January 2015

Introduction to Young Engineers• We aim to inspire young people to develop an interest

in engineering, and recognise the potential, importance and excitement of a career in engineering

• We do this by providing a pyramid of offerings to enable students to develop their engineering interests. At its base we enable large numbers to experience engineering challenges in real-world contexts and at its top we celebrate and mentor young people embarking on their Engineering career

• In 2013 over 20,000 students benefitted directly from Young Engineers activities in 600 schools and youth organisations around the UK

Quick Charity Fact File:- We are a not-for-profit company and educational charity, which can trace its roots back to 1984- HRH The Duke of York is our Patron- We receive no direct Government funding- We have a strong collaboration ethos to avoid replication and strengthen our impact

BackgroundThe problem*• There is a shortage of engineers both globally and in the UK.• 1.86 million job openings will need engineering skills from 2010-2020.• The UK's ability to compete is in jeopardy with contracts going to foreign

companies.• A vast array of industries are affected including medicine, green technology,

sports as well as construction, electronics, automotive etc.• Global stability and national security will rely more on engineers as they will

be needed to develop new technologies to address looming global energy, food and water shortages.

Some Progress*• 19% of 12-16 year olds now know what engineers do (up from 11% in

2012).• 38% of 12-16 year olds see a career in engineering as desirable (up 9%).Action Needed*• We need to double the number of entrants to engineering across all levels

of qualification.• We need to encourage students to take triple science GCSE and improve

uptake of physics A level to keep engineering career choices open.Our role• Our activities give school students the opportunity to try out being an

engineer and discover the fun and creativity involved.• Our Membership system creates a skills pipeline, retaining students and

providing them with a range of activities to progress through, allowing them to develop relevant competencies.

*Facts taken from Engineering UK’s State of Engineering report

Our current portfolioOur current portfolio includes 8 distinct initiatives. Its diversity gives us a broad appeal, yet we ensure all these activities are:• Fun!• Based on real world scenarios• Convey key STEM* learning opportunities and engineering careers

messages• Emphasise and encourage creativity, team working, communication and

project planning skills• Show the next steps that build on the activity being undertaken• As affordable as possible – most of our activities are free

Launch Pad (9-16) – a starter programme providing activity packs, engagement ideas and membership items. This package incentivises students’ efforts and helps new groups to build membership and sustain interest

Making Knexions (9-14) - A popular loan kit scheme focusing on sustainable engineering issues which encourages secondary schools to work with their partner primary schools.

STEM Challenge Events (9-16) – Our team deliver these events in schools. Often a taster event which hooks students and the school into more activities by demonstrating the ease and fun of engaging in our activities.

Project Eggs Factor – The Eggtastic Voyage (7-16) – a mission in the Amazon rain forest is the latest challenge for the delicate eggy flight crew. Videos of the challenge solutions allow schools to compete and be inspired by each other without the need to take students off premises.

Krazy Racers – The Koncept Kar (7-18) – an automotive challenge using the same video entry structure as Project Eggs Factor.

*Science, Engineering, Technology and Maths

Young Engineers for Britain (12-19) - we challenge students to use their imagination to create, design, develop and manufacture an original idea for a commercially viable device or system that meets a useful need they have identified in this prestigious 30 year old competition. Complete with:• a mentoring programme with industry experts to support the most

promising entries and help them reach their full potential• the Intel ISEF Award – 2 projects go to the US to compete internationally

The Renishaw Engineering Experience (16-18) – students practice their CV writing and interview skills, with winners gaining a unique opportunity to see behind the scenes of successful Engineering businesses during a fully subsidised five day package of activities.

All these activities give participants membership of our network:

Membership benefits include • access to the best online engineering games, quizzes and inspiring articles• an ideas bank of activities members can easily run themselves• a support directory showing where members can find out more information

to further their careers – activities and competitions, resource suppliers, discipline specific information and initiatives, careers information and role models, sponsorship programmes etc.

• membership items which change annually to reward long term participation

ImpactsOur real-world role play based activities have much to offer in creating well-rounded, participating citizens for our wider community as well as some fantastically gifted engineers. Teachers and mentors report back to us that our activities enable young people to develop important personal thinking and learning competencies as well as practical skills and deeper STEM subject knowledge.

Our portfolio cont.

TestimonialsHuge thanks for last week, as previously I received numerous compliments about you and the activities from Staff and students. Alex Beech, Midhurst Rother College 2014

Thank you for delivering the Rescue Robots challenge yesterday. The students really enjoyed it and I've already had 3 students asking if they can take part in other STEM events and want to start a YE club next year!Wendy Lockhart, St Margaret Ward Catholic Academy 2014

Thank you very much for visiting Gloucester Academy. Judging from the feedback slips it was clear they had a challenging but enjoyable experience. Every pupil I spoke to changed their preconceived ideas of engineering and now see it in a more positive light. I believe they now understand the importance of teamwork in solving engineering problems. All looking forward to the next activityClayton Gardner, Gloucester Academy, 2014

We as teachers loved the project as did our students and it is something which will use again. Many thanks for the opportunity in being involved in this projectAnn – Marie Bentley, All Saints Catholic College, 2014

The competitions at the Big Bang Fair are a major motivating factor for students, there is considerable internal competition between the students to get involved, and the standard of project work is higher as a result. I believe this is having a significant effect on the recruitment of students onto my Systems and Technology A-level course, which this year has recruited 8 students when usually the numbers have been 3 to 4.Paul Gray, Head of Design & Technology, Nottingham High School 2014

Children who attend the Young Engineers Club are more motivated in class, are more likely to choose triple science when they leave us to go to upper school, and have a greater understanding of the direction in which they wish to proceed. The opportunities to showcase work at the Young Engineers Final, offers pupils life skills that they will never learn in a classroom and these experiences are invaluable. Our four students (aged 13/ 14) spoke eloquently to the judges for over 40 minutes explaining their projects. They had no adult support and managed superbly well.Jo Cox Head of Science, Redmoor Academy, Hinckley 2014

We want all UK students to experience a quality engineering role play activity. Not all will go on to become engineers, but our population will be better educated about the key role engineers play in society – a core requirement identified to help address future engineering shortages.An increase in our annual funding would allow us to: 1. Scale up our operation and reach more students• We currently reach 20,000 students at 600 schools annually• Our long-term goal is to reach every school aged student in the UK• Just four full time and two part time staff manage, develop and support a

nation-wide army of volunteers who deliver our extensive activity portfolio

• The result is a cost per student intervention of below £20: best-in-class

• Our services are oversubscribed; additional admin support and an associate delivery partner scheme would immediately enable an increase in our output

2. Develop new activities and challenges which will further broaden our portfolio and appeal to new groups and improve accessibility• We can further widen our portfolio and broaden our appeal• We have identified new projects which await new funding for

development. For example:– An engineering challenge with a drama/theatre setting to show students that

creativity is key to engineering and to encourage them to view STEM subjects more positively

– A geocache based engineering treasure hunt to pique interest– A video-based/augmented reality tool kit to help students learn basic concepts

3. Campaign more effectively to include support from local company and other institution role models for our members4. Mount PR and marketing campaigns to raise our profile

Future aspirations

Show your supportYour generous support will help sustain our important work and increase our reach

Personal Supporter packages:Bronze - £2/month or £50 one-off donation• be kept abreast of Young Engineers achievements• a Young Engineers supporter badgeSilver - £10/month or £250 one-off donation• your support acknowledged on our website• all benefits from the Bronze level packageGold - £40/month or £1000 one-off donation• an invitation to our Annual Celebration of Engineering

presentations• all benefits from the Silver level packagePlatinum - £200/month or £5000 one-off donation• an award in your name• a invitation to the patron’s lunch• all benefits from the Gold level packageTo make a donation go to: www.justgiving.com/youngengineers

Corporate SupportA range of companies and organisations support us with donations ranging from £2,000 to over £100,000. This support is vital to our work and helps support company’s corporate social responsibility programmes.If you would like to make a large or regular annual commitment, please contact CEO Rod Edwardsrod.edwards@youngeng.org.uk