Departmental news

According to recent reports, the UK needs around 800,000 more technicians and apprentices to meet the demand in the economy for the sort of practical science jobs to boost innovation and economic growth. This is why WMG, University of Warwick, is supporting the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Technicians: We Make the Difference campaign.

Technicians are making a difference across society, doing exciting and interesting jobs in almost all industries; from making a life-saving vaccine to working behind the scenes at a music festival. It's their balance of scientific, engineering, or technological knowledge, along with skills such as attention to detail and critical thinking, that makes technicians special.

WMG employs more than 50 technicians, including Engineering Technician, Bethany Haynes and Battery Technician, Divyesh Mistry who feature as case studies on Gatsby’s new Technicians: We Make the Difference website.

You can hear more from Bethany here: Bethany Haynes, Engineering Manufacturing Technician | Technicians and Divyesh here: Divyesh Mistry, Battery Technician | Technicians as they share their experiences with the aim to inspire more young people to consider technical careers.

Bethany Haynes, Engineering Technician based in WMG, at the University of Warwick’s SME Team, says: “This is such an amazing project to be a part of as it is so important for young people to be aware of the technical roles out there. I love the fact that there is a technical role that will harness and encourage the majority of skillsets, especially practical skills. I have always been a technician and genuinely love my job, yet at school I was always told I needed to go to university and have a degree to have a good job.

“Technicians: We Make the Difference shows that you can have a career with or without a degree. I’m looking forward to visiting the Science Museum next weekend and seeing all the cool things other technicians are doing.”

Divyesh Mistry, Mechanical Technician based at WMG at the University of Warwick’s Energy Innovation Centre, adds: “It was a privilege and an honour to take part in the Gatsby project. Each technician has their own skills and abilities, which allow for fundamentals of their profession to thrive. It’s great to see the technician career path be advertised, and I recommend it as a fulfilling career with lots of opportunities.”

 Paul Johnson, Technical Services Manager at WMG explains: “It’s great to see our technical staff involved in this crucial initiative. I say crucial because the skill shortage, that we now see across the educational and research landscape, has to be addressed now. To do that we need to engage the next generation of technicians, and those young people that we reach out to need to be inspired. Hearing from early career technical professionals, through outreach programmes such as this, can only help to galvanise the desire that young technicians have and drive them to pursue a career in science and technology.”

Research by Gatsby shows that while parents are becoming more supportive of technical education routes and qualifications, such as T-Levels, many (40%) still don’t understand what a technician is. Furthermore, two thirds (66%) say their child has expressed an interest in a future career that they know very little about.

Together with Gatsby, WMG wants to help parents and young people learn more about technician careers options and routes available (many of which young people can reach via T-levels, apprenticeships and other more practical, work-based routes).

Find out more about WMG’s Technician Commitment here: Technician Commitment (warwick.ac.uk)

ENDS

For more information on Gatsby’s Technicians: We Make the Difference campaign, please contact technicians@kindredagency.com.

Sources:

· Parents and young people survey – A survey, carried out by Censuswide, of 2,004 parents of children aged 11-16, and their children. The survey was conducted between 27th July – 1st August 2022.

· Parents survey – A survey carried out by Censuswide of 2,000 parents of 11–18-year-olds who attend non-fee-paying schools. The survey was carried out in March 2022.

About Technicians: We Make the Difference

Technicians: We Make the Difference is a campaign by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation that aims to educate parents and young people alike on technician careers.

While some technicians work in a lab, most don't. Technicians are making a difference across society, doing exciting and interesting jobs in almost all industries.

It's their balance of scientific, engineering, or technological knowledge with skills like attention to detail and critical thinking that makes technicians special. That can be almost anything - from making a life-saving vaccine to working behind the scenes at a music festival.

And with thousands of other interesting technician roles across almost every kind of industry - there's a good chance that there will be one out there that you would enjoy.

Find about more about how technicians make a difference every day via www.technicians.org.uk.

Using the format of the hit TV show, Taskmaster, this exciting outreach project enables young people to learn about interesting aspects of the law through fun and interactive tasks set in the style of Taskmaster. School Tasking is now entering its second year with a second pilot at Warwick and a new rollout at the University of Edinburgh. From 2023-24, it will run across 15 universities, culminating in a grand final.

The WMG Outreach and SME teams, at the University of Warwick, were pleased to lend their support to the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, for a unique project inspired by Coventry artist and campaigner, Daniel Lismore.

The gallery hosted a series of masterclasses challenging local community groups to create their own mannequins using the techniques and skills adopted by Daniel in his recent exhibition ‘Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Taken.’

Daniel Lismore is known for his elaborate and extravagant creations that combine haute couture with charity-shop finds, including yards of vintage fabrics, found objects, ribbons, feathers, chain mail, shells, ethnic jewellery and retro accessories in an expression of creative energy, whilst giving voice to social calls for action and politically driven campaigns.

The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum approached Professor Margaret Low, Director of Outreach and Widening Participation at WMG, in need of some specialist equipment to help with the masterclasses. The WMG SME Team owned this equipment, and kindly agreed to loan it.

Amanda Haran, Community Engagement Officer at Culture Coventry explained: “Daniel was introduced to vacuum forming by English National Opera and as our aim was to make the creative journey as artistically authentic as that taken by Daniel, we were thrilled when the team at WMG offered the use of their machine.”

Bethany Haynes, Engineering Technician in the WMG SME Team, attended each of the masterclasses and guided the community groups through the vacuum forming process, enabling them to create some really imaginative pieces, combining engineering skills with process art.

Bethany explains: “No object, providing it could withstand the heat, was off limits. We used key rings, broken bits of jewellery, fabrics and even real apples.

“It was a brilliant project to work on, totally different from anything I’ve done before, and it was lovely to have the freedom to add my own ideas to the designs too.”

Amanda added: “Beth's instruction and support have been truly amazing, from making pomegranate moulds, to sourcing the specialist preferred foam. She met the energy of the groups being encouraging and adventurous, helping them to create the forms that best illustrate their theme.”

The Daniel Lismore inspired mannequins will be on display at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum throughout August. Find out more here: Home - The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum

Staff from WMG, at the University of Warwick, were proud to support the EY Foundation’s Beyond Your Limits employability programme, helping care-experienced young people with their future careers.

The new partnership between Warwick, led by the University’s Social Inclusion Group, and the EY Foundation has been made possible with funding through a UKRI Higher Education Innovation Fund.

Beyond Your Limits aims to develop key skills that are essential for helping young people reach their true potential as they take their first steps into a career, apprenticeship, or further education. A total of eight young people enrolled on the 2021/22 programme with the University of Warwick.

Part of the programme required the young people to take part in a workplace experience, so the Social Inclusion Group worked to align the young people with departments that would support their career aspirations and interests.

The Beyond Your Limits programme has been specifically designed for care-experienced young people in education, aged 16-19. On the programme they receive paid employability training, work experience placements, a personal development grant, a business mentor and progression coach.

Three of the eight students were allocated to a WMG Research Fellow, Dr Craig Carnegie, who acted as a business host, providing five and a half days of structured work experience, facility tours and opportunities to network within WMG.

Craig explained: “I created tailored individual programmes for the students; taking into account their personal interests of aerospace, manufacturing and photography. They completed the various tasks on campus during the Easter and May school holidays. This project gave them the opportunity to experience real world research and engineering, at a time when they are choosing their paths to take for their future careers.

“It was a very rewarding experience, and although the placements have now finished, I’m still available for contact if they need support with job applications, helping them to improve their employability and professional networks. They were a remarkable group of young people, and I am looking forward to seeing what they go on to achieve in the future.”

Professor Margaret Low, WMG’s Director of Outreach and Widening Participation, explained: “Craig’s contribution to this project will have made a marked impact on these young people. It is so important that universities provide role models and support to the people who will make up the workforce of the future to ensure that science and engineering roles are accessible to people from all backgrounds. Thanks to Craig’s efforts with the EY Foundation WMG has been able to further support widening participation in higher education.

“We hope to be able to work with the EY Foundation and Warwick’s Social Inclusion Group again in the future."

Read more WMG Outreach news here: Public engagement and Outreach (warwick.ac.uk)

'Know Your River' is a new citizen science project based at the School of Life Sciences, funded by the Enhancing Research Culture Fund from UKRI.

The Know Your River Team, led by Dr Chiara Borsetto, is looking at the pollution state of rivers in England and their use for recreational purposes by using a citizen science approach. The project aims to raise awareness across the public on the issue of sewage pollution in rivers and associated risks to human health and also to engage with policy makers to help promote safeguarding of our rivers.

Anyone who is interested in rivers or using rivers for recreational activities across England can help by telling us how they use rivers and what their perception of river pollution is through anonymous surveys. You can also join in by collecting river water samples from across the River Severn, Thames and Humber catchment areas. The water samples will be analysed for presence of E.coli and other coliform bacteria resistant to antibiotics and the presence of selected antibiotics will also be monitored. We believe that citizen science can be a powerful tool to gather information about the environment we all live in. The deadline for participation is Thursday 30 June.

If you would like to find out more or be involved in the project, then please visit our website at www.warwick.ac.uk/knowyourriver and follow us on Twitter.

The WMG team had a busy, fun-packed British Science Week, taking part in six special STEM events reaching out to more than 2015 young scientists and engineers.

British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths; and is a chance to look into the future and celebrate the impact scientific ideas can make on society. In support, the Team took part in the University of Warwick’s ‘Slice of Science;’ attended the Royal Institution’s Powering our Sustainable Future event, where Rohin Titmarsh and Phil Jemmett shared their expertise on battery tech and robotics; and conducted experiments at a library science fair in Staffordshire.

Dr Phil Jemmett, Outreach Project Officer at WMG, said: “Presenters at the events noticed students building in confidence as they engaged with our staff, and we have received some really positive feedback from both organisers and parents.”

The team at Perton Library said the ‘experiments were great – excellent explanations for the children.’

A parent at the Ri event said it was an ‘excellent event. Having the booths from universities/companies after the event was a great bonus for my son. He had the chance to discuss not only about batteries but about different courses to study as he is still undecided as to which course to choose.’

Another parent added: ‘It gave my 17-year-old a frame of reference to where a career in STEM could lead.’

Phil explained: “For the UK to remain at the forefront of innovation, a strong and diverse workforce will be needed. We believe that events such as these can give youngsters the information and the inspiration, they need to pursue a STEM career.”

The Outreach team would like to say a huge thank you to Bethany Haynes; Rebecca Swan-McAdam; Mucahit Ozden; Veronika Majherova; Yiduo Wang; Zeina Rihawi; Jianhua Yang; Rohin Titmarsh; Tom Goodman; Rachael Kirwan; Eugene Prout; Nilavan Thipaharan; Bianca Agapito; and Claire Davis, for their help and support at the events.

Find out more about WMG’s Outreach programme, including the Lord Bhattacharyya Engineering Education Programme and the Resonate Festival, taking place in April, here: Public engagement and Outreach (warwick.ac.uk)

WMG’s Professor Margaret Low was presented with an MBE, for her services to public engagement and widening participation, on Tuesday 15th March by HRH The Princess Royal at a special ceremony at Windsor Castle.

Professor Robin Clark, Dean of WMG, and Director of Education explains: “Margaret joined WMG back in 1988, and for many years she has made it her mission to inspire young people from all backgrounds in STEM subjects and into higher education. We are all so proud of her many achievements.”

Margot James, Executive Chair at WMG adds: “Margaret’s MBE is a true testament to her hard work and dedication in connecting the local community with academia and, promoting STEM in an engaging way. I send her my warmest congratulations.”

Professor Margaret Low said: “It’s lovely, if a little overwhelming and totally unexpected, to be recognised in this way. Everything I’ve achieved has been in collaboration with fantastic colleagues and friends at WMG and across the University. None of this would have been possible without their hard work and dedication.

“I’ve also had the good fortune to work with some brilliant students through Warwick Volunteers who’ve been instrumental in bringing outreach activities into schools.”

Working with Warwick Volunteers, Margaret collaborates with University of Warwick students to run Scratch workshops in local primary and secondary schools reaching more than 250 children each year through the Technology Volunteers project. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Margaret and her team also developed invaluable resources to help support home-schooling.

In 2016 Margaret was awarded an HEA National Teaching Fellowship. The Fellowships recognise and celebrate the absolute highest standards of learning and teaching across higher education.

More than a decade ago she pioneered the use of Scratch in the UK, a user-friendly programming tool, for outreach work in schools.

Read more about the WMG Public Engagement and Outreach Programme here: Public engagement and Outreach (warwick.ac.uk)

On Friday 11 February Anna Ceesay a second year Biochemist, and Outreach Officer for Warwick's Biological Society, is joining a Virtual Q&A panel to celebrate Women in Science at Warwick. The day marks the sixth International Day of Women and Girls in Science; a day designed to promote full and equal access to, and participation in, science for women and girls. The live panel event will give the opportunity to meet some of the women in our Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and ask them any questions about Science at Warwick. Find out more

The WMG Outreach team has been making special Christmas deliveries to children across the West Midlands and Warwickshire.

A total of 45 festive STEM parcels have been delivered to young engineers at primary schools, community groups, Coventry’s Hospital Education Service, Coventry Transport Museum and IntoUniversity. 

Each parcel contained printed templates of Christmas-themed decorations on a flat sheet of card, along with instructions and a link to a video tutorial.

Phil Jemmett, WMG Outreach Project Officer, explained: “The activity teaches young people how 3D objects can be made from flat materials. This is often how real-world items are made and stocked in shops because it takes up so much less space. We’re all used to the idea of ‘flat-pack’ now – it's time to show young people why it’s so common. 

 “To cement the learning for our young audience, there is a final challenge! This is a creative activity where students design and make their own 3D item from paper or materials. The children then bring all their creations together around a central stand to make a festive display.”

Sophie Meeson, Brown Owl at Berkswell Brownies Brown Owl said: “Berkswell Brownies were thrilled to use the Christmas-in-a- box resource. The children enjoyed seeing their hard work become a 3D final product, and it was a great way of combining reading comprehension skills with fine motor skills and problem solving to ensure they had made the necessary cuts and folds for their final piece to fit together. Being able to tie it into our Christmas craft evening was a bonus for the leaders too, fitting the theme perfectly. Our thanks go to the outreach team at WMG.” 

Professor Margaret Low, WMG’s Director of Outreach and Widening Participation added: “These boxes are only possible thanks to the support of our staff designing the items in the boxes, packing and delivering boxes to their local schools, as well as the support of WMG and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. The contributions of our entire team, during a busy festive period, show our commitment as a department to inspiring the next generation of engineers.”

All of the resources are also available online for free here: www.warwick.ac.uk/wmgoutreach/resources/flatpack