Engineering a Sustainable Energy Supply (EaSES)

The first delivery of the Engineering a Sustainable Energy Supply (EASES) project has now been completed.

It provided engineers from across the engineering sector with the training and support required to develop and deliver inspiring and engaging workshops to introduce young people aged 8 to 11 to the work they are doing to develop a sustainable energy generation and supply system – a resource that has never been higher on the national and international agenda. The project has been very successful with engaging young people, teachers and engineers, $wardFutures is now seeking further funding to expand the project.

Funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Awards, “an awards scheme that supports and funds the most creative and impactful projects that engage the public with engineers and engineering.”

Engineers were given the support they needed to develop their confidence and skills to allow them to share

their passion, engineering knowledge and the journey they have followed in becoming an engineer in a way

that inspired young people to want to follow a career in engineering.

Following a series of live and on-line training workshops, the engineers co-create projects with members of

the 4wardFutures (4FC) team to inform and inspire young people from groups that are currently

underrepresented in engineering, including the huge part engineers are playing in the creation, development

and maintenance of diverse sustainable energy systems, whilst minimising the environmental impacts

associated with previous energy systems. They were be able to show how this work is paramount to the

security, natural environment and economic well-being of our country.

Young people gained insight into the impact of this work, the technologies the engineers are using and

developing, and have a greater understanding of the career opportunities across the sector – their applications, personal benefits and the positive impacts on the environment and society.

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Pupils’

Comments

I learnt that good engineering can help the planet become clean and not release CO2 emissions.

I enjoyed all of this project because I could work with my friends to create renewable energy and help our environment. My favourite activity was experimenting with the wind turbine that got 15 volts! I thought this project was important and interesting because it shows what differences we can make to our environment and how to keep it clean.

I enjoyed the EASES project because we got to interact with special equipment, and we learned about how Co2 affects the Earth. The lessons Mark , Stu and Chris taught were so exciting and fun - my favourite was the hydrogen car. I found I learned so much and it was really fascinating. I was so engaged in the activities. IT HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST PROJECTS I'VE EVER DONE - THANK YOU!

Engineers’ Comments

This project was well designed for communicating the message about sustainability and clean energy solutions to young kids and give them a direction on how they can contribute. The energy and passion that came out of this workshop was phenomenal.

It was a great opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge and opportunities in science and engineering to the younger generation, while learning what common questions were asked.

Was really rewarding to see the excitement and high level of engagement from the students and also the level of knowledge that some pupils already have about power generation was astonishing.

Excellently ran, topics covered was great, left us with a blueprint we can use going forward.

Mark was super helpful throughout. His passion for creating the awareness about sustainability and clean energy among kids was inspiring. He explained well about the program, activity, travels workshop etc right from the start. We ended up delivering the workshop well in time at 2 schools.

Chance to engage with young people and use a combination of hands on and career discussion

Pleased to engage with young people on two key topics that I am passionate about - the environment and engineering

Teachers’ Comments

Children were very engaged with the activities offered and had a fantastic time getting to have hands-on experiences to enhance the learning. They loved the open-ended nature of the work following the project and choosing what to focus on and how to present their information.

All of the activities were set out well with clear modelling and instruction on what needed to be done to achieve success.

Children understood the information being presented to them and were able to take part in activities and complete tasks. However, the project also challenged them (in a positive way) to push their knowledge and skills effectively.

It was very engaging and really informed the children, fitting in well with the children’s learning about the environment and climate change. The workshops were really good, and the children were actively engaged in them. They also enjoyed completing their own projects.

I liked the ambitious approach to the project. It did not feel like the children were spoken down to or limited their learning and understanding.

The activities were great, and they were engaged from the beginning being eager to try the 3 different ones. Thank you so much for maintain the workshop with them.

I have more knowledge of engineering, and how important it is to look after our environment, also more about teamwork and how sun can also make quite a lot of energy as well!

Listening to a real-life engineer, who is working on wind power, was inspirational.

The project was enjoyable because it allowed us to engage with young people on the energy transition and let them know about all the careers that make our projects possible.

I have personally gained some practice in public speaking and answering unexpected questions.

I now have a greater ability to discuss science and relevant project topics while dealing with questions that are not typical.

Being able to communicate complicated technical knowledge in a most simplistic way to a very young audience.

Great to spend time with kids helping them understand some of the climate challenges, and what we as engineers need to do. Also enjoyed realising that the teachers were learning as well. Good to close the loop with a follow up visit.

Great opportunity for us to think about why fusion energy and computational science should be something a 9-year-old should care about at all, both now and by the time they're grown up.

Engaging with young people and seeing their enthusiasm for a sustainable future was encouraging.

Even though we would have been happy to see any interest in the often previously unseen magnetic phenomena we showed them, almost all of the participants engaged a lot more than we expected with trying to explain what they were seeing by themselves.

Very much enjoyed engaging with a primary school cohort and having to go back to first principles in explaining climate change, its causes, and potential mitigations - it was a salutary reminder of how much knowledge we take for granted in our wider stakeholder engagement, and this helped me think through our narrative.

Absolutely fantastic! I can honestly say has been the best project the children have ever been involved in.

The project was an engaging way of introducing our children to the many ways in which we can use energy in a more efficient and sustainable way, whilst providing the first steps toward the potential opening of doors to future careers in 'energy and engineering.

There is so much that will have a lasting impact but definitely their outlook on how they can reduce carbon emissions and the options that are out there to help with this. They are very interested in the future Hydrogen can play in clean energy.

Thoroughly engaging project. The workshop was fantastic.

It was absolutely fantastic!

All the children were engaged throughout the workshops. Mark, Dave and John asked questions pitched at the right level for our children which prompted super ideas from the children. I know all the adults thoroughly enjoyed it too, it was a fabulous day, and the children are still talking about it now!

The project has sparked interest into green energy within our classroom. It has encouraged children to think deeper about how we power our homes and our school. They are excited to produce work based around the practical elements of the project to share with others!

This course has made me feel sad yet hopeful for the future. Sad that us humans have caused so much damage to our planet already but hopeful that so much is being done by clever scientists and engineers to balance our planet for the good.

One of my favourite parts of the project was when we found out how we can help the environment and when we did the wind power activity as I found it interesting how it created energy just by spinning. I’m excited to do the project on what the school can do to help the environment.

I learnt that good engineering can help the planet become clean and not release CO2 emissions.