In July, we welcomed a group of 12 and 13 year old pupils from Hartshill School in Nuneaton, as part of the Think Higher (Coventry and Warwickshire) programme.

The children took part in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) and 3D Printing workshop, with the aim being to inspire pupils in engineering. They were shown how to use a simple CAD software package and complete a task to create their own design for an ‘ear buddy’ to store a set of headphones.

The CAD and 3D printing offered the pupils the opportunity to quickly and easily get involved in designing and making, thus building their interest and confidence. The task to design the ‘ear buddy’ was a creative task but also used planning and organisation skills to consider whether the design would actually work. The pupils sketched design ideas then took measurements of the headphones enabling them to add key dimensions to the design before using the CAD software.

Before returning to school the students were given a tour of our Engineering Hall, with Dave Cooper and Zach Parkinson from our technical team, giving them an insight into the wider world of engineering.

The event was organised in collaboration with the Think Higher organisation. The workshop was run by Diane Burton along with Maretva Baricot-Mendoza and Warwick Engineering undergraduate Becky Crabbe.