The EDT is the largest provider of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) enrichment activities for UK youth. We develop partnerships, build links between education and industry and help organisations reach talent and connect with young engineers and scientists across the UK.

Our range of work related learning schemes provide opportunities for 11-21 year olds to enhance their technical, personal and employability skills through industry-led projects, industrial placements and specialised courses. Each year we interact with nearly 25,000 students across the UK.

• First Edition – Hands-on STEM activity days for Year 7-11 & S1-S5 (11-16 yr old) students. Providing opportunities for under-represented groups (girls, ethnic minorities, first in family to consider higher education).
• Open Industry – Curriculum focused in-company educational experiences for students of all ages.
• Go4SET – Environmental themed 10 week STEM projects for Year 8/9 & S2 (12-14yr old) pupils.
• Engineering Education Scheme – Real life 6 month STEM projects for Year 12 (16-17yr old) students.
• Headstart – STEM experience courses at university for Year 12 & S5 (16-17yr old) students.
• The Year in Industry – Paid career development work placements for students completing A levels/Scottish Highers/equivalent qualifications or as part of a university sandwich year.

As examples of EDT’s amazing results here are two inspiring case studies:

Emily Nicholls

Year in Industry – Babcock International – Marine & Technology division, 2010

MA Phys Physics – University of Exeter

I won the National YINI ‘Contribution to the Business’ award for my disposal of radioactive waste project at Babcock International which resulted in significant environmental and cost savings. This work was a national first and marked the start of a long term investment in recycling.

In September 2011 I will begin my MPhys with Exeter University – a year later than I had planned. Shortly after completing my YINI with Babcock, I started a post of Project Support Engineer within the Nuclear Standard Group. I have also been offered a place on the graduate scheme with Babcock and will undertake summer placements whilst at University.

I now have a greater understanding of how my learning at University can be applied practically in the working world and during my YINI I completed a wide variety of Physics-based tasks which will help when I read Physics at University. My YINI experience has greatly boosted my confidence, stemming from mixing with so many new people, directors and industrials alike, as well as from my achievements. One thing that is definite is that I have widened my opportunities significantly through the YINI scheme and the confidence that the experience has given me will be beneficial to every part of my life.

“YINI is… an unbeatable gap year experience!”

John Clifford

Headstart course 2003

John Clifford applied to Headstart 8 years ago. He wasn’t allocated to any of the courses he had put down in his preference list, but instead he was offered a place on the Systems Engineering course at Loughborough University. He wasn’t at all sure what systems engineering was – in fact he had never heard of it, but wanted to go on Headstart so he accepted the offer.

During the 5 days of the course John realised that, almost by accident he had come across the right degree for him. With its multidisciplinary approach and strong emphasis on the commercial and project management aspects of engineering, systems engineering was what John wanted to do at university. He successful applied to Loughborough for the course and completed his MEng with outstanding results.

Following a third year industrial placement he applied and was offered a position within a small and newly formed project department at NG Bailey as an Energy Solutions Architect. The organiser of the Headstart course and also a lecturer on the degree programme invited John to come and talk to this year’s group of Headstart students. After a great session with lots of buzz and questions from the students John is now talking to his company about working with an EES team…

Keele University recognises that for most graduates, a degree is not enough to stand out in today’s competitive job market, and that some graduates don’t look for work outside certain industry sectors where there are often excellent opportunities.

To address both of these concerns, and to help graduates secure their first graduate level job, Keele has been running Graduate Internship Schemes since September 2009. During this time, we have placed over 350 graduates in to internships lasting between four weeks and 12 months. Of these graduates, we have found that just under half of those who responded to a follow-up email after completing their internship were employed in a graduate level job. This is outstanding considering that in order for a graduate to be eligible to apply for the scheme they had to be unemployed, at risk of redundancy or not in graduate level employment.

One of our Internship Scheme graduates, Chris Bramhall, secured a permanent contract with a Stoke-on-Trent based industrial engineering company, Aerotherm, after completing an eight-week extended internship that concentrated on business development and growth through marketing.

Chris applied to the scheme after completing his degree in Business Management as he wanted to gain valuable work experience with a Staffordshire-based company whilst putting his degree to practical use and at the same time, benefiting a company with his knowledge learnt from his degree.

Chris’s Line Manager, Chris Bowman, believes that his input into the business’s environmental arm; Aerotherm Environmental Ltd, has been very useful in recent months.

He says: “Chris really has been invaluable to the business. He’s fitted into a particularly broad role that ranges from environmental quality controls, to marketing, to helping to put in place new systems for Aerotherm Environmental.”

Chris Bowman continues: “Chris has brought a real positive attitude to the job with a good ability to analyse data and to do what has been required of him.”

Speaking of his success, Chris Bramhall says: “I’m lucky because I didn’t just want to do any job – I wanted something that I enjoyed – and I’m very fortunate to have found something like that in the current climate.

“Keele’s Internship Scheme has definitely helped me to get my foot in the door, and with the lack of graduate jobs around at the moment, it is definitely what I needed.”

Chris Bramhall is now Aerotherm’s Marketing Manager and looks forward to developing his career with them.

Keele’s Graduate Internship Scheme is running until April 2014 and is open to companies of all sectors.

Graduates interested in taking part in this scheme can find out more information on our website www.keele.ac.uk/internships or contact us: internships@uso.keele.ac.uk or 01782 733371.

Every day Cisco connects people to the network and makes it come to life. Whether it’s using e-learning to educate students far from city centres or downloading the entire Library of Congress in seconds, Cisco’s networking technology has not only revolutionised the way people do things, but who they are. People are more informed, more efficient, and more involved.

With all forms of communications converging on to the network, Cisco is entering an exciting new era. The concept of the network as the platform for transforming life’s experiences is no longer a possibility: it is quickly becoming a reality. And Cisco is leading the experience. Within the UK, Cisco employs over 3,000 employees, and over 60,000 around the globe in the 140 countries from which it operates.

Generation Y takes on a mentoring role at Cisco UK

Cisco is at the cutting edge of so much of technology that it seems hardly surprising to find it is also taking an innovative approach to mentoring. Where many companies use a hierarchical approach to mentoring, using senior staff to help younger or more junior staff, Cisco has turned this round and is using younger staff to mentor senior managers, with the UK and Ireland Leadership Board each assigned a mentor to help them. If this seems the wrong way round it is because the need was to reverse the usual knowledge exchange.

Charlie Johnston, who is HR Director at Cisco, designed the programme and explains the background:

“when we ran our staff survey in 2008 there was a clear message from some groups that we were not as inclusive as we thought we were and in particular we were not picking up on what Gen Y staff (those born after 1980) wanted. The message was quite blunt and to the point – you don’t understand us, you don’t communicate with us in the most effective way you can and your engagement strategy is not allowing us as many opportunities to be heard as we want.”

It was, he says, quite a shock for the company:

“we pride ourselves on having an open culture where people are encouraged to speak their mind but this obviously either wasn’t working or it wasn’t evident to everyone. I thought the best way Cisco could respond and pick up on this knowledge would be if members of the executive team were mentored by some of our Gen Y staff.”

The idea was to develop a small scale mentoring programme which would last a year. Anyone in the Generation Y group could take part. They were asked to outline their views on a few questions such as ‘what should our leaders do differently?’ After talking this through with their manager, the managers nominated those they felt would contribute most to the programme. Ten individuals were selected, which was a tough challenge for Charlie and his team, as he explains:

“we wanted people who were interested in what we were trying to achieve, and we also wanted those who we felt would be brave enough to challenge our leaders – otherwise it wasn’t going to work!”

Initial discussions were held separately with the Generation Y group and the ten senior managers who had volunteered for the programme. The purpose was to explore what both groups thought would be important if the mentoring was to work well. After a chance to review this information and compare what the groups had said, there was a meeting to
introduce everyone. This was a chance to discuss what the ground rules would be and for HR to provide a framework for the first meeting. There was also time for the first discussion, followed by a review session so everyone could compare notes.

The role of HR once the programme began was to provide moral support and advice if required. Mostly Charlie says this wasn’t needed though there were times when they acted as a sounding board for some Generation Y staff who wondered just exactly how honest they should be. It isn’t for the faint-hearted to mentor a senior manager who may be in their mid-40s with more far reaching business experience and sitting a number of levels away from the people providing the mentoring. One reason why the mentoring has worked so well, Charlie says is that:

“of the Cisco culture, we all want to learn, push the boundaries in terms of the initiatives we put in place and our executive team are very open to developing themselves.”

Charlie emphasises that the guidelines provided were advice rather than rigid rules,

“for example we felt that there should be a topic for each meeting; that meetings should be at least once a quarter and that an 80:20 speaking rule should be maintained by which we meant that the senior manager should talk only for 20 per cent of the time. We knew otherwise the reverse might happen which would not make for good mentoring.”

At that first review session he says some managers admitted it was tough to apply this listening rule so it was a good idea to include: it has been one of the biggest challenges for the programme.

The overall aim, to improve cross-generational awareness, has worked well. It is now a year since the programme began and all ten mentoring partnerships are still up and running. In some cases the result has been simply an increased awareness of what Generation Y thinks, “it has opened the eyes of our senior leaders” and they have learnt about Generation Y; how they prefer to send and receive information and how they use technology. Some approaches could best be described as ‘direct action’ – in one instance the Generation Y person decided to survey those in the senior manager’s business area to see how they perceived their leader. Another interesting angle was where the Generation Y person shadowed their senior manager as they chaired All Employee communication meetings and then gave them feedback on their style, approach, and how they might be perceived.

What has been the impact of the mentoring on the individuals involved in the programme and was this what they expected when the programme began? One of the mentees has said that they have a better understanding of what an executive cares about in relation to running of their operation:

“Before I joined the scheme, I had a view of what an executive cared about which couldn’t have been further from the truth. The reality is that they were keen to learn new techniques and how we utilise the tools in our own social networks to get into our minds and learn to adapt to the needs of the younger people in their operations. I was really impressed by how much my mentee was willing to listen and the boundaries between myself and the executive I worked with really broke down. I have learnt a lot personally from this programme and been inspired by the willingness of the company to try some new approaches to developing our executive leaders capabilities.”

Conclusion

Many mentoring programmes are seen simply as development tools but Cisco demonstrates the value it can have in helping change organisational culture. Charlie says that it is hard to find measures of success for the programme, although he already senses a change in attitudes across the organisation. One unexpected outcome is that some senior executives who were not involved in the programme have asked for their own Reverse Mentor, a sure sign that others in the business see the value and impact of reverse mentoring. It is still the case that many organisations feel uncomfortable about mentoring. Sometimes there is a fear that it may open up issues that are better not discussed; often the issues are around the cost and time implications for HR of providing such programmes.

In Charlie’s view there is a misconception about what mentoring is about, it should be, he says:

“a way of life that focuses on creating an organisation from the top down and the bottom up that is concerned about the development of capability. It needs to be simple, not be a process that is imposed and it absolutely has to be a business led initiative rather than something that HR is deemed to own.”

What is the future for mentoring at Cisco?

Charlie is definitely pleased with the results so far and is considering how best to take it further “we do have many different groups who would benefit from mentoring not least the baby-boomers who say ‘hey, what about us and our issues’?” but he is cautious about what would be the best approach and wants to take time before deciding exactly what the next phase looks like. Whatever Cisco does select there seems little doubt that it’s likely to be every bit as successful as this reverse mentoring programme has been.

Key elements of Cisco’s reverse mentoring programme:

• A clear rationale of why the mentoring programme was important to the business – as opposed to why it would help individual career development;
• A careful selection process to identify Generation Y individuals who would benefit most from the mentoring;
• HR designed the framework for how the mentoring should work and brought everyone together to help clarify expectations for mentors’ and mentees’ behaviour, and to lay down important guidelines such as on confidentiality;
• The importance of independence – mentors and mentees were matched from different business areas.

 

BG Group’s vision is to achieve both functional and technical excellence, and drive this systemically through its 17 technical and business functions. Core to achieving this level of excellence is developing a leadership model which can be embedded in both technical and professional roles across the organisation.

The Operations Function conducted an analysis of BG’s top 100 leaders. A review was also undertaken of operational activity and incident reports to gain a further insight into the health of this function. Analysis showed that these leaders came from 30 different organisations and displayed a range of different approaches to both management and leadership. Given the lack of commonality in approach and reoccurring gaps identified in management practices, BG embarked upon a programme to address these areas.

The Operations Academy was launched to introduce a change in mindsets and instill a single philosophy and approach to management and leadership. The key purpose of the Academy is to embed common standards of practice and ensure new joiners are immersed in the BG Group culture; establishing Operations Managers as leaders of their own community and developing a greater level of cohesiveness, understanding and accountability across the function.

The Academy’s programme comprises a one-week intensive course of interactive sessions. The week’s schedule includes a review of behavioural profiles, one-to-one interviews with the course facilitator to identify strengths and areas for improvement, a situational leadership session, role-playing scenarios, an intensive look at the BG Operations Management Standard and case studies.

“At the outset of the Academy people receive a letter personally drafted by the CEO, Sir Frank Chapman, reiterating that the ‘relentless pursuit of operations excellence’ is key to the delivery of the Group strategy. During the course of the week we reveal that Sir Frank will be joining for a Q&A session. This session is highly valued and really cements the importance of Operations Leadership.”

Martin Gilroy, Global Operations Advisor

Earlier Academies have also included site visits to review the operations of other local non-oil and gas businesses to identify and share best practice. The programme is typically delivered to small groups (16 staff at a time), and has so far been rolled out to over 140 key operational leaders as well as to those who are likely to be their successors in these roles in the near future. Some managers from other functions have also joined the programme to broaden their experience. Leadership themes arising from the Operations Academy included spheres of concern and influence, relationships, managing tensions, and understanding the Operations Management Standard.

Feedback from employees has been positive and incited comments including those from Colin White:

“Being amongst peers in a neutral location exploring the aspects of the Operations Management System and management styles in novel and engaging ways has certainly provided me with many ideas which I will be looking to introduce into my team. After a combination of thought provoking stimulating activities and encounters I left the Academy firmly believing this was the foundation of an exciting opportunity where we, the Operations community, have the chance not only to shape the way we conduct our business, but to also influence the perceptions of others about our role in the company.”

Colin White, Operations General Manager, Rashpetco, Egypt – Attendee, Operations Academy One

Following the inauguration of the Academy, the impact of the training has started to be experienced across Function and Asset Operations, particularly where the Operations into Projects team1 is concerned. Teams within the functional areas have benefited from improved relationships and greater collaboration. Asset Operations Managers now take a more proactive role in engaging with their project teams through dedicated Operations Representatives.

The Operations Function has taken a lead in ensuring that there is careful alignment between the standards and guidelines across the Capital Projects and Developments functions and sufficient participation in the project assurance process, and have also supported the development of a toolkit to assist Operations Representatives in their role. The story has further evolved over the past few months and new approaches have warranted the introduction of a project delivery process termed OAR (Operations Assurance and Readiness) which has gained considerable momentum of late. The introduction of this intervention has lead to instances where projects have experienced a positive change (e.g. in mindset). Such changes will undoubtedly precipitate safer and more effective operations in the future.

The Academy provides a valuable mechanism to identify operational issues which are being felt at the level of BG’s individual assets. This feedback helps to inform strategy decisions at the centre. Going forward, BG aims to continue to provide the programme biannually for operational leaders across the organisation.

Based on the success of the Operations Academy, BG has developed and piloted a Front Line Operations Academy for front line supervisors. This intends to be a catalyst to inspire supervisors to embrace leadership and sign up to an Operations Charter which sets out seven ambitions at the core of operational excellence for supervisors to work towards.

BG Group HR lead on Technical Capability, Tony Seigel, recognises the need to create a transparent and objective framework for leadership programme design:

“there needs to be an objective rather than a subjective approach to assessing talent and the frameworks which underpin development need to be transparent about the skills and attributes required for roles and how these can be developed; they also need to differentiate between the types of leaders required to lead different business functions and assets.”

In 2010, the engineering sector employed 4.5 million people, representing just under a fifth of the UK economy. However, the sector is substantially under-represented by women who make up only 8.7 per cent of engineering professionals; the lowest proportion of females across all EU countries and far behind Bulgaria and Sweden with 29 and 26 per cent respectively. Research from the 2010 Brand Monitor study3 shows that men are more likely to have positive perceptions of STEM subjects and careers, whereas women can consider them to be “dull and technical”. The perception of 17-19 year old females was that engineers were paid less than lawyers and have a less attractive reputation than lawyers and accountants, whereas males were generally more positive about engineering as a career. It is estimated that increasing female participation in the UK labour market could be worth £15-23 billion4. The question is: why do most young females have adverse views towards engineering?

From an early age, young people are shaped and modelled by the influences of those around them: their family, their friends, their teachers and those that they see in the media. Terry Marsh, until recently Executive Director of WISE (Women into Science Engineering and Construction), recognises the importance of providing passionate role models to inspire young people, particularly females, who may have otherwise been discouraged from pursuing STEM subject choices and a related career path.

Research undertaken by WISE in association with the UKRC, confirmed that girls were less interested than boys in the physical sciences at school, and when asked for their best science lesson ever would cite biology or chemistry experiments. These findings intimate that the best type of role model for a girl is a teacher who knows how to make physics fascinating using everyday examples, analogies and simple participative experiments in every single lesson. The Institute of Physics has researched methods of making physics more ‘girl friendly’ and the new website http://www.girlfriendlyphysics.co.uk/ uses their findings to start to create a focus for the issues raised. Terry underlines the importance of industry also providing role models to schools to enthuse young people:

“They can inspire, they can touch the heart as well as the mind. Girls understand what doctors and vets and pharmacists are, and so can see themselves in these roles. If an engineer can emotionally engage with students at the same time as explaining their career path and decisions, only then may they hope to counteract the ‘negative whispering’ that surrounds the word ‘engineer’, which is particularly potent for girls.”

Samantha recalls that her childhood interest in engineering came from a fascination with structural achievements in her locality – she cites the example of the Brunel Bridge in Saltash, Cornwall near her family home. Samantha believes that one of the greatest influences over her career was her mother. Despite not coming from an engineering nor professional background, her mother encouraged her to pursue a career which drew upon both her creativity and her strengths in maths and science. Other important influences on her career path were her teachers at school, including her metal-work and physics teachers, who made their subjects both understandable and challenging. She was encouraged by them to study Computer Science at A Level and later to pursue mechanical engineering as a degree.

Terry notes the significance of mainstream media and its ability to influence young people through the portrayal of strong, innovative and creative role models. She believes that popular television shows could be used to make girls in engineering ‘look cool’ in the way forensic science has in the past. As a means of informing and motivating young females about STEM related professions, WISE has worked closely with the Science Council’s Futuremorph, a webbased, interactive careers site. Futuremorph provides insight and information about STEM careers and helps users explore their own interests and values. It also provides a wealth of STEM role models in a range of diverse careers to give an insight about potential job areas.

Samantha Robitaille, Systems Engineering Fellow of BAE Systems L&A (Michigan), is a shining example of an inspirational role model for engineers. Samantha is President of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) a worldwide membership organisation of corporate organisations and individuals with around 8000 members across the United States, Europe, South Africa and Asia. Its vision is to develop and disseminate the principles and practice which enable the realisation of successful systems.

Profile.

Samantha holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bath and Masters in Gun Systems Design (Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham) and in Engineering Management (University of Bristol). In 2011 she became a Doctor of Engineering after completing four years of research into “Principles and practices for the application of systems engineering to heterogeneous research partnerships” at Loughborough University. Her career started out in Royal Ordnance as a student engineer, where she developed a broad understanding of the UK defence industry, and specifically of the military vehicles business, through a wide range of roles. In 1999 following several company mergers she was appointed Deputy Chairman of the BAE Systems Systems Engineering Council, a role in which she was responsible for the coordination of Systems Engineering capability development across BAE Systems and its joint venture companies. She received a BAE Systems SPIRE award for her service to Systems Engineering education and training within the company in 2004. She has been an INCOSE member since 1999, serving initially as Corporate Advisory Board member for BAE Systems and then appointed Technical
Director, a position she retained until she was elected to the presidency at the end of 2007.

Samantha recalls that her childhood interest in engineering came from a fascination with structural achievements in her locality – she cites the example of the Brunel Bridge in Saltash, Cornwall near her family home. Samantha believes that one of the greatest influences over her career was her mother. Despite not coming from an engineering nor professional background, her mother encouraged her to pursue a career which drew upon both her creativity and her strengths in maths and science. Other important influences on her career path were her teachers at school, including her metal-work and physics teachers, who made their subjects both understandable and challenging. She was encouraged by them to study Computer Science at A Level and later to pursue mechanical engineering as a degree.

Samantha sees her greatest professional achievements as gaining Chartered and Fellow Engineer status with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and latterly becoming President of INCOSE. Samantha admits that having her ‘name in lights’ was not the driving force behind her successful progression – she is driven by doing things she finds enjoyable, as well as being able to make a real difference in engineering.

Samantha recognises the importance of providing inspirational role models to young people. She believes parents have a huge role to play in influencing children and their career choices. That applies not only to parents who are engineers, but also to those who aren’t. Any parent can still see the relevance of engineering and make introductions to interesting people or offer ideas to inspire their children.

She also acknowledges the need to present aspirational individuals who are not afraid of being honest about the challenges of developing a career in engineering. Samantha recalls meeting a female fighter pilot who spoke candidly about her experiences as a pilot and the challenges she faced within the role. Although perhaps daunting to young women starting out as engineers, hearing from others who have overcome similar challenges to their own can come as a breath of fresh air to those with some experience.

The Systems and Defence market place is changing rapidly. Given the need to grow the home and export market and move towards service orientated provision, there are significant demands for developing quality engineering capability. BAE Systems recognises that leadership is a key facet integral to all engineering capability. BAE’s ambition, set out in its vision, mission and values, is to: be the premier global defence and security company; deliver sustainable growth in shareholder value through commitment to Total Performance; and be trusted, innovative and bold. Leadership and managerial qualities are an essential part of BAE’s engineering roles and will enable the company to realise its vision, mission and values.

As part of BAE’s commitment to ensuring its engineers have the right skills and experience to deliver customers’ requirements, BAE produced its Engineering Capability Development Framework in 2010. The Framework comprises four principal quadrants and the first of these relates to Personal Effectiveness. Leadership features as a key element both for competency development and learning activities within this quadrant.

Leadership capability has been a priority area for BAE’s staff development since 2008. The results of staff surveys in 2006 and 2008 indicated that there were gaps in certain areas of leadership capability, including trust in leadership and performance management. Following these results, BAE decided to conduct a two-year development programme to create a new leadership development framework. Working with the University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), BAE explored priorities in leadership capability and identified areas for further development through a series of interventions including staff focus groups, review interviews with engineering directors and an experiential workshop. As the final stage of the programme, a workshop was designed to help senior leaders explore the significance of corporate strategy on their personal leadership behaviours, and to facilitate action planning. The design of the workshop was scenario-based and used the battle of Waterloo as its historical context and as a location for the event. Emerging individual development needs were addressed through pre-work and one-to-one ‘coaching’ style discussions during the event. Collective and business development needs were addressed in the plenary
session.

Positive feedback was received from delegates on the value of the programme and the design of the workshop in particular, concluding that “experiential learning is good value” and that it gave the opportunity “to reflect on personal traits, strengths and weaknesses…certainly thought provoking and personally challenging”.

This topic has been raised, and the merits of the BAE programme endorsed, at the annual High Performing Engineering Forum. The Forum, co-hosted by BAE and IfM, provides an opportunity for major international manufacturing companies to share issues of common interest between their senior engineers. Members identified that developing engineering leaders was a common priority, particularly increasing levels of self-awareness.

BAE Systems aims to enhance the capability of leadership in engineering throughout the business. It will implement the Engineering Framework via team-focused events across its Business Units and retain the deployment method of experiential learning based on its success.

The BPI was set up about 12 years ago, with the help of a £23 million endowment from BP. It acts as a conduit supporting interdisciplinary research across five different departments spanning chemistry, mathematics, engineering, chemical engineering and biotechnology, and earth sciences. This type of collaborative model enables companies such as BP to carry out research programmes with world-class researchers and tackle real problems in fluid dynamics and multiphase flow, subjects in which the Institute specialises. The BPI facilitates opportunities for industry scientists and university researchers to explore solutions to problems using complementary skills, knowledge and techniques.

Isabella Stocker is a PhD student in chemistry at the BPI. In 2009 she was grant funded by BP to begin her PhD and join a wider team of researchers addressing surface chemistry problems as part of the Enhanced Oil Recovery Programme. Her three and a half year thesis focuses on adsorption from solution.

As part of the programme arrangement, Isabella meets with the R&D programme manager and team leader at BP on a quarterly basis to discuss progress with the research and present her findings. Doing her PhD in the BPI has enabled Isabella to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to her research studies and gain alternative views on her research problem by drawing on the skills and knowledge of chemical engineers, mathematicians and others around her. At first, Isabella found the nature of the research and project timescales quite a daunting prospect, but she now sees it as a very positive learning experience, enabling her to carry out fundamental research aligned with her own area of interest and relevant to a real industry problem.

“Working in an interdisciplinary environment has enhanced my PhD experience….I like the challenge of applying my knowledge to a real industry problem and seeing how business works”

Working in close proximity with the BP R&D team has also led to an opportunity for Isabella to take part in a summer research placement at the BP offices in Sunbury. As the basis to her internship, Isabella was tasked with carrying out a literature review to explore an area associated with her surface chemistry studies. During this month at BP she was able to get an insight into different departments and roles through participating in meetings and shadowing R&D staff in their laboratory work. The support and guidance received from the programme manager and team assistant helped to make the experience a positive one.

“The research placement with BP was an exciting opportunity to learn about industry and its differences to academia, but also to meet industrial contacts. It provided me with remarkable insight into business and has helped greatly in choosing a career path after my PhD.”

Through this experience Isabella has learnt about where she fits within an organisation, and this has helped inform her decision about her future. She now sees a career in R&D and employment with BP as a realistic post-study pathway to pursue. From Isabella’s perspective the key to a successful internship is predicated on a collaborative three-way partnership whereby:

• Employers make it easy for students to enter into an internship agreement and provide a well planned, relevant and realistic programme;
• Students are open to the industrial experience and are willing to work hard, learn new things participate in activities and work independently;
• Universities are open to formally incorporating placements into PhD programmes, and those in student supervisory roles help advise and guide on placement opportunities as well as allowing students time away from their primary studies.

Maynard Marrion, who joined BP in the autumn of 2010 as a Petroleum Engineer in the Exploration and Production Technology (EPT) part of the business, chose to take a different pathway to kick-start his engineering career. Having taken a DPhil at Oxford in 2007 he chose to take up the opportunity of a post-doctoral role at the BP Institute. It involved a three-year experimental and theoretical study into the area of sanding; investigating the behaviour of porous rock media during oil flow. Through this role Maynard was able to join the wider team of researchers for the Beyond Sand Control project team. During this period, his research role offered Maynard the opportunity to work closely with the team and deepen his specialist knowledge of flow in porous media.

On reflection, Maynard recounts that his initial time working with BP as a university researcher provided a “good testing ground” and a stepping stone enabling him to “understand how industry works whilst keeping an academic base”. His advice to other students pursuing engineering careers and making the transition from study to work would be “to remain open to new ways of working and different learning styles and attitudes”. He noted:

“it’s not just about having technical engineering expertise but also having general skills such as time management.”

Key to making informed choices, and to Maynard’s own successful transition into an engineering career, have been the nature and level of support which he received from those at the university and industry careers interface. Receiving sound advice and guidance from approachable staff including the lead business representative at BP and his university supervisor, enabled Maynard to explore options and make critical career decisions more easily. Andy Leonard is Vice President of BP Cambridge and leads from the business front at the University. He recognises the value of working closely with researchers to develop individuals’ industry research expertise and prepare them for the world of work:

“From a business perspective, providing internships and working with university researchers plays a key role in helping to strengthen the link between the research and the business need whilst deepening the scientific underpinning of the research programmes. In addition, these programmes provide a great preparation for the individuals as they consider and, subsequently, embark upon their future careers.”

Research carried out by Aston University reported that those students who both completed a degree placement and attained a 2.1 had a faster start into graduate-level and better-paid jobs.

Aston University has considerable experience of providing students with placement year opportunities, and is known as the pioneer of this integrated approach to university degrees. Over 70 per cent of students at Aston (around 1000 a year) take part in a voluntary or compulsory placement programme between their second and final years. The School of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS) comprises six subject areas, each of which has a placement scheme. The university actively encourages students to complete a year in industry or commerce in order to gain a much better appreciation of both the application and the context of their academic studies and to better prepare them for careers in their chosen field.

A successful placement year requires a tri-partite agreement of active co-operation and collaboration between the student, the employer and the University. It requires the employer to take an active role in recruitment, selection, supervision and support, to identify appropriate, meaningful work and to set high expectations. Permanent staff often find mentoring a student for a year particularly rewarding and the employer also gets to know some of the brightest soon-to-be-graduates around. It requires the student to prepare thoroughly, and to be pro-active and self-aware in order to make a contribution and to learn and grow. It requires the University to prepare its students throughly, to focus on employability, to instill confidence and a can-do approach, and design pre-placement and onplacement assessment that supports reflective self-awareness and personal growth.

The benefits of a placement year extend to all three parties. Through the placement, the University is able to create and strengthen links with industry, commerce and the public sector – links which facilitate collaboration in research, teaching and practice.

For the student, benefits are experienced for both their academic achievement and the development of employability skills. The research conducted found that doing a placement had a statistically significant effect on salary, employment outcome and type of employment (e.g. its graduate level)2 for graduates across all disciplines. Furthermore, around 81 per cent of Aston alumni interviewed3 felt that their placement had had a positive effect. A placement offers students the ability to apply their studies to a real context. And in this respect it has been noted that the grades of placement students in EAS have improved following a placement year. The period in industry can also help grow core skills such as team working, time management and presentation skills and offer a chance to learn about workplace requirements and culture. A graduating student holding job offers with Deloitte and KPMG, commented when asked about the benefits of his work experience with E.ON and Johnson Controls:

“The skills and insight gained during my work experience enabled me to provide a whole range of examples of the competencies and knowledge I had during the graduate selection process. I think it was this aspect that led to my securing the job offers.”

As far as employers are concerned, placements give them the chance to develop relationships with students and assess them as prospective employees through assigned tasks. It is widely accepted that employers place considerable value on a substantial period of work experience during higher education, and students with placement experience receive preferential treatment in the graduate job market, at least initially. Having taken part in the placement programme, E.ON commented on the value of the student’s contribution:

“He was an excellent addition to my team, he fitted in straight away. He understood tasks quickly and worked independently producing worthwhile reports and presentations”.

A successful placement can kick-start a career, particularly for entry into highly competitive fields or sought-after organisations, and a proportion of students return to permanent positions in their placement organisation on graduation.

work-wise is a collaborative employer-led initiative which aims to re-invigorate young people’s interest in careers in engineering and manufacturing. The pilot programme is managed by Business and Education South Yorkshire (b&e) who work together with Industrial Trust, Made in Sheffield, NAMTEC, the National Metals Technology Centre, and Sheffield City Council.

work-wise is a concept devised and developed by businesses in South Yorkshire to increase the supply of suitable young people in the talent pool. The talent requirements of employers such as metal products manufacturer Firth Rixson were not being met. Employers found that they were receiving insufficient applications or that those candidates who did apply were not ready for employment. They did not have suitable skills or were unable to apply learning in practice. Given that several businesses were facing the same problems, they decided to join together to tackle the issues collaboratively, rather than compete for the same pool of young people. The businesses also wanted to have a greater say in young people’s development and be able to give feedback in a structured manner and, facilitate peer endorsements.

So far, 50 employers have committed to offering a structure programme of activities and are currently working closely with six schools to pilot the programme. Interventions are predominantly targeted at students aged 13 to 16. The schools can choose from a programme of events and interventions ranging from: project based competitions; visits from local employers; and enhanced work experience placements2. The initiative adds value by developing participants in four essential skill areas comprising: work awareness; work capabilities; work attributes; and work knowledge and skills, one of which will be covered explicitly as part of the learning experience. The inclusion of these four areas of programme content, derives from employers’ recognition that there are a whole host of employability skill pre-requisites alongside technical knowledge.

As part of the pilot, 150 young people have gone through the work-wise experience and some are already reaping the benefits. Tom Watkins, a student from Handsworth Grange School, Sheffield explained how his time on the programme at Firth Rixson had given him a fantastic insight into the many different roles available, including design, forging and maintenance engineering. After his placement, he took the initiative and contacted the company to discuss a future position. The positive outcome is that he has now taken up a full time apprenticeship with the firm straight from leaving school.

Benefits are also being experienced by the employers which, through working in close proximity with local schools, are giving young people an insight into careers and increasing the flow of available young talent. Alison Bettac, Learning & Development Manager, UK & Europe, Firth Rixson explained:

“The great thing about work-wise is that it is an employer-led programme, so it is designed to provide real life experience of engineering and open their eyes to the career opportunities available, so pupils can make informed choices for the future. We are now actively recruiting apprentices and it is through programmes like work-wise that we hope to continue to attract bright, dynamic young engineers to work for us.”

work-wise’s contribution to regional engineering and manufacturing events plays an important role in inspiring young people to join the profession on the basis of a realistic insight into the opportunities such a career may provide. Nigel Brewster, managing director of Sewell Moorhouse, President of Doncaster Chamber and Sheffield City Region LEP Board Member said:

“In terms of skills, certainly one of the most uplifting parts of the Global Manufacturing Festival was the b&e workwise event. It aims to establish the foundations to ensure that there are enough young people with the right attitude and essential skills to help the sector thrive. It provides ‘real’ world work experience through manufacturing and engineering businesses, therefore providing an essential catalyst in the minds of young people about what a career in the sector might offer.”

From a school and teaching perspective, the programme has been commended by Jane Miles, Principal Springs Academy Sheffield for providing “a structured work pathway for local children” which complements mainstream education and learning. Jane views the programme as “a creative approach to attainment, which will develop skills for jobs and life including self pride, self confidence, and personal responsibility”.

Although it’s early days for evaluating the success of the programme, b&e has learnt that for an intervention to be effective it is absolutely necessary for all parties involved to be wholly prepared. b&e has developed a toolkit for employers to prepare them to participate in the programme and ensure that they are adequately equipped to support, advise and guide participants as appropriate. b&e plans to develop further toolkits and resources for parents and teachers; they recognise that their understanding and backing is crucial to the successful engagement of young people. Discussions are underway about the future of the programme beyond the pilot stage, and partners are exploring the possibility of setting up a Foundation so that work-wise can become a sustainable initiative going forward.

“There is a substantial appetite from the private sector to support the work-wise programme, and whilst the pilot has started with engineering and manufacturing companies, the approach is replicable across other sectors. There are demonstrable positive outcomes and case studies of young people accessing the job market and employers addressing short as well as long term skills needs. Through the work-wise foundation, which will look to attract both private and public sector investment, we believe we have a sustainable approach that people will invest in. Why? Because it works!”

Jackie Freeborn, Chief Executive b&e

 

The Fibonacci project began in January 2010. Its purpose is to disseminate a programme of inquiry-based teaching  and learning methods in science and mathematics across primary and secondary schools in Europe. Engineering UK’s study investigating the take up of engineering in the UK indicates that extending the number of compulsory school subjects to include maths and physics is one way of growing the overall pool of potential engineers and significantly increasing the female cohort. The research found that many young people (particularly females) are counting out the possibility of entering an engineering role by the age of 14. Given the importance of raising young people’s interest in science and maths careers, the European Union provided 4.7 million to implement Inquiry Based Science and Mathematics Education (IBSME) in schools through the Fibonacci Project.

The Fibonacci programme will run for 38 months until February 2013 and by its end it is anticipated that 60 tertiary education institutions throughout Europe will have been engaged and a minimum of 3,000 teachers and 45,000 students will have been reached. IBSME involves helping students use science and mathematical concepts and logical reasoning to help understand evidence they have gathered. Teachers lead students to develop inquiry skills and to understand concepts via facilitating group work, dialogue and debate, as well as providing hands-on experiments. Meaningful contexts are provided by making links with the local community where parents, scientists and industrialists can also be involved. EngineeringUK’s key findings suggest that “encouraging more practical application of science…may counteract the dip in motivation and performance identified in Year 8”3.

The approaches of Fibonacci also promote ways of working which help to stimulate change in teaching pedagogy including:

• Developing a problem-based culture;
• Experiencing crossing subject boundaries and interdisciplinary approaches;
• Promoting the participation of girls and boys;
• Promoting student cooperation; and
• Autonomous learning.

The value to students of adopting this pedagogy is that it encourages them to replicate the processes that scientists and mathematicians use in investigations and problem solving. It encourages a culture of question asking and decision making at an early age.

The Fibonacci consortium is made up of an initial 25 members from 21 countries and is coordinated by the Ecole Normale Supérieure (France) together with Bayreuth University (Germany). Development and dissemination of good practice is organised through 12 Reference Centres, institutions with high recognition and expertise in IBSME. Each Reference Centre is twinned with two or more other institutions. Practice is also shared through seminars, conferences, field visits, tutoring and training. For example, the University of Leicester is one of the Reference Centres and is twinned with St Patrick’s College Dublin, Queens University Belfast and Stranmillis University College Belfast. To continue to trial and develop new material, approximately 12-25 teachers in each country are exploring an aspect of IBSME. The small scale provides potential for innovation as all the actors can share ideas easily.

In order to disseminate learning, five European seminars or training sessions have been organised from September 2011 to March 2012 on the following topics:

• Integrating inquiry across curricula;
• Using the external environment of the school;
• Implementing and expanding a Reference Centre;
• Deepening the specificities of inquiry in mathematics;

The seminar on Integrating Inquiry Across Curricula will be at the University of Leicester this September. It will particularly focus on work developed by teachers in Leicester, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Dublin, Luxembourg, Nantes and Tartu. In Leicester, the teachers’ focus has been on exploring links between mathematics and science.

School mathematics often lacks purpose. Scientific inquiry is a rich source of opportunities to use mathematical ideas purposefully and understand their utility. For example, data handling in primary schools is often based on artificial contexts. In scientific inquiry, decisions have to be made about collecting, displaying and interpreting real, complicated data. This provides rich opportunities for learning statistical ideas in meaningful ways. In addition, understanding mathematics is important for future scientists as mathematical ideas play an important role in the explanatory power of models in science.

Good cross-curricular links promote genuine learning, as students are engaged in meaningful, purposeful activity. It enables knowledge of the real world to be applied in an integrative fashion; making learning more motivating and enthusing. There are also opportunities to develop oral, reading and writing skills alongside both mathematical and scientific activities. Consequently, pupils are more likely to develop creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

The Fibonacci programme is enthusing teachers and pupils alike. Whilst it is early days to report back on the success of the Leicester programme, the teachers engaged so far have found the pedagogy practical and exciting, and feedback has included comments such as:

“Some great practical ideas to help bring maths to life.”
“Active graphing provided a new exciting dimension to using data”
“Nice balance of explaining, discussion, hands-on, time to reflect and plan.”

Over many years of research at the University of Leicester, a relationship between teachers’ and pupils’ enthusiasm has been a consistent finding. Enthusiastic, motivated teachers inspire their pupils. They have also found that when teachers start to try practical activities that are at the pupils’ appropriate intellectual level, the pupils respond enthusiastically. This in turn motivates the teachers to provide more innovative practical work, which often makes pupils more positive about STEM activities.