WMG at the University of Warwick’s Outreach Team was pleased to take part in the Royal Institution’s (Ri) holiday workshops.

Professor Margaret Low and Dr Phil Jemmett both led sessions at the holiday workshops designed to bring all areas of science - including mathematics, computing and engineering - to life for 9 to 14 year olds.

Professor Margaret Low’s session was a fun and creative introduction to programming using TurtleStitch. TurtleStitch is free, easy to use, and generates patterns that can be stitched by embroidery machines, enabling the creation of physical things from code.

At Dr Phil Jemmett’s session he asked, ‘Where is engineering?’ Dr Jemmett explained how every product, tool, device and service relies on engineers designing, refining and creating solutions to problems. Students used programmable electronics and sensors, and had the opportunity to make a product for the future.

Dr Phil Jemmett, Widening Participation Co-ordinator at WMG, University of Warwick, said: “The Royal Institution has centuries of tradition in educating people about science in a fun and engaging way. We are so proud to have supported the holiday workshop programme for another year, and continue to work with one of the most famous scientific bodies in the world. What better place to showcase the engineering and innovation that WMG is part of in building the future? We aimed to show people how simple it can be to start to create their own projects, whether making a smart city for the future, or controlling an embroidery machine in Margaret’s workshop. And it really showed in the engagement of the students in the activities – the things they were able to build in one day were mind-blowing.”

Professor Margaret Low, Director of Outreach and Widening Participation at WMG, University of Warwick, showed her commitment to making science accessible: “Science, engineering, mathematics, and computer science are not traditionally seen as being fun subjects to dip into. With these workshops we were able to provide an inspiring introduction for young people, and perhaps set them on a path to becoming scientists or engineers in the future. Working in partnership between a university and a public body like the Ri is a good example of how we can create opportunities for young people to discover what they want to do, and be empowered to achieve it.”

Peter Gallivan, Family Programme Manager, at the Royal Institution, explains: “Holiday Workshops at the Royal Institution are one of the main ways we work with young people, welcoming around 2,000 young people across the summer to get hands-on exploring STEM subjects. The sessions run by Margaret and Phil are some of my favourites, as they showcase how creativity and imagination are important skills used by scientists and engineers. It was a delight to see their sessions packed full of excited young scientists happily working together to solve a variety of engineering challenges. How else would you want to spend your summer holidays?!”

Find out more about WMG’s Outreach programmes here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/about/outreach/