WMG was pleased to welcome 22 girls from the WMG Academy for Young Engineers, to a special ‘Magnificent Women and their Flying Machines’ event, in celebration of National Women in Engineering Day.

The event was set up by the Women's Engineering Society (WES) to commemorate the work of early women engineering pioneers during the First World War. At the workshop the girls were tasked with designing and building aircraft wings, taking inspiration from the work of these women.

Shaheen Charlwood, Senior Teaching Fellow at WMG, explained: “The event was designed to inspire the next generation of female engineers, and in turn encourage them to consider engineering as a possible career.

Shaheen Charlwood, Senior Teaching Fellow, was thrilled to represent WMG at the official opening of the new WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) HQ at the Leeds College of Building by HRH The Princess Royal.

Shaheen joined leading figures in industry and education, to hear a series of inspirational speeches from WISE Chief Executive Helen Wollaston, Commercial Director HS2 Beth West. The guest of honour, HRH the Princess Royal, unveiled a commemorative plaque. Each speech focused on girls and women studying and building careers in science, technology, engineering and manufacturing (STEM), and the need to improve links between schools and employers.

Engineers and teaching staff from WMG and the School of Engineering are proud to be representing the University of Warwick at the annual Imagineering Fair at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena this weekend (14-15 November).

About Imagineering

Each year thousands of people enjoy hundreds of activities developed and laid on by some of the UK’s major manufacturers, engineering organisations and education establishments. Visitors can learn about the importance of modern engineering in our everyday life and how things are designed and made. Youngsters are also able to meet successful real-life young engineers.

Engineers from WMG will be running two special summer school workshops at The Royal Institution’s Science Lives Here event, in London, designed to help inspire budding engineers.

The Solihull Council’s planning committee has approved plans for the new WMG Academy building this week. The new Academy, which will be built on the vacant site at the corner of Chelmsley Road and Conway Road, will eventually host 640 young engineers aged 14-19.

The WMG Academy for Young Engineers Solihull is a sister Academy to the WMG Academy in Coventry. It will initially take students at years 10 (aged 14) and year 12 (aged 16) with the first intake joining in September 2016. It is expected that, as with the WMG Academy Coventry, there will be huge demand for places.

Local students and parents interested in finding out more about the WMG Academy Solihull can visit the WMG Academy Coventry on 20^th June for a Taster Event which will run from 10am to 3pm and include taster lessons, demonstrations, tours of the building and a chance to speak to staff about the curriculum and enrichment activities. If you are interested in attending please visit the website at www.wmgacademysolihull.org.uk.

On Wednesday 13 August, Margaret Low (Principal Teaching Fellow at WMG) and Dr Simon Leigh from the University of Warwick, ran a summer school at the Royal Institution in London called Illuminating Engineering. The event showed how modern-day manufacturing links together art, science, engineering and technology in order to create new, exciting and bespoke products.

The one-day workshop demonstrated how these links can be brought together through design, software and hardware engineering skills and how engineers need to have an appreciation of the other areas to get any project off the ground. Students designed and manufactured a bespoke, interactive lamp controlled by a micro-processor, writing the software for the interactive lamp and exploring the design and production of a personalised lamp shade using digital manufacturing tools.

One of the first students to join the WMG Academy for Young Engineers laid a final brick yesterday as part of the topping out ceremony for the new building.

Emily Rooney, who will join the Academy in Year 12, took part in the special ceremony to mark another milestone in construction.

The first cohort of Year 10 and Year 12 students will come through the doors in September. They will spend their induction week exploring the engineering and manufacturing facilities on offer at the University of Warwick, before starting classes in the new building on Mitchell Avenue.

Students from the Engineering Society at the University of Warwick took part in The Market Bosworth School’s Science Fair earlier this month, to run a series of workshops with children to teach them about the forces involved in rollercoasters.

The workshops saw the children designing and building an array of impressive small-scale rollercoasters using pipe insulation, complete with stomach churning twists and turns. The creations were then tested using marbles to demonstrate the laws of motion.

Four pupils from North Leamington School have won the national final for F1 in Schools and will now represent the UK at the world finals, which are being held in Abu Dhabi in November. Academics from WMG have been working with the students to help them to develop 3D printed parts for their car, which won the UK competition at the NEC earlier this month.

The team from Leamington Spa, named Whittle Wonders, has been supported by WMG for the last three years of the competition. Dr Greg Gibbons, Head of Additive Layer Manufacturing Research at WMG helped the team to produce 3D printed parts for their cars, including the front nose cone and aerofoil components.

Do we take engineering for granted? What would our life be like without engineers?

To get people thinking about the impact that engineering has on our everyday life, the WMG Academy for Young Engineers is asking everyone to tweet and facebook them explaining how life would be different #withoutengineers.

Simply visit their facebook page or find them on twitter @wmgacademy and send in your ideas and photos telling them what things in life would be very different #withoutengineers!