Over this past term, Churchill College welcomed 500 pupils and 46 teachers from 20 schools to Cambridge, across 12 workshop days, as part of a season of engineering outreach. The visits formed part of two key programmes led by Churchill Fellow Dr Rachel Thorley: MedTech Inspire and Living Lab: Climate Action.
Two programmes, one goal
MedTech Inspire is a new outreach programme, funded by the Isaac Newton Trust, that introduces young people to engineering through the world of medical technology. Pupils built and tested robotic hands, heard talks from working engineers, and toured University labs, all designed to help them picture themselves studying engineering at university, including at Cambridge University.
Now in its third year, Living Lab: Climate Action gives Year 9-10 pupils a full day of engineering challenges focused on climate resilience. Highlights include a strategy game on sustainable urban drainage and a hands-on task to design and build a flood-proof home. Living lab was established by Churchill College fellows Dr Thorley and Prof Dongfang Liang and originally funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Award.
Both programmes share the same aim: helping pupils see engineering as creative, varied, and open to everyone, regardless of background.
Impact
Dr Rachel Thorley who leads the outreach work, is Churchill’s CORE Fellow, responsible for community, outreach and recruitment activities in engineering, and developing the engineering community within and beyond College. Rachel said: “What constantly surprises me is that there are so many misconceptions about engineering. I never get tired of seeing the moment when a young person realises that engineering is creative, fun, and so much more than cars and bridges.”
Rachel also thanked the engineers who volunteered to talk with pupils: “The best part for me is always the conversations with engineering students and role models. Watching pupils ask questions and figure things out first-hand is the whole point.”
Pupils were asked whether the day changed how they saw engineers or engineering careers. Their answers spoke for themselves:
“Before today I thought engineers were more concerned with the mechanical aspects, for example, pulleys, roads, falling objects. Now I realise there is a broad range of different types of engineering jobs. I also realise how central creativity is to engineering.”
“An engineer is a problem solver, a team player, but also equally a leader. Engineering can’t really be done solo, so engineers must be collaborators and be ready to ask questions.”
The teachers who brought pupils along were equally enthusiastic. Mrs Lisa Bowman, a teacher at Kings International College, a state school in Camberly said: “The MedTech Project at Cambridge University is a fantastic opportunity for our Year 9 and 10 students to be involved in something very different. The project ideas are wonderful, and the students have absolutely loved preparing their posters and 3D models. Thank you so much to Rachel for giving us the opportunity to take part, and I can’t wait for next year!”
Churchill College would like to thank the Isaac Newton Trust for funding MedTech Inspire, and everyone who helped make this term’s outreach programmes possible, from engineering role models to teachers who gave up their time.
This work sits at the heart of Churchill’s wider mission to widen access to Cambridge, welcoming pupils from all backgrounds to explore what studying here could look like. Find out more about the College’s outreach and widening participation work at chu.cam.ac.uk/about/our-priorities/outreach.
