Sixth formers swapped educational endeavours for engineering experiments at a state-of-the-art national research facility at the University of Sheffield.
The students from schools and colleges across Sheffield, visited the recently opened Integrated Civil and Infrastructure Research (ICAIR) Centre, where they were able to use its high-tech equipment to run their own engineering experiments measuring blockages in sewer pipes and looking at resilience with water supply pipes.
The students also met with Andrew Wyllie CBE, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), who joined them in experiments on sewer monitoring and the pumping of hot water through drinking pipes. He also discuss the role they might play in the future of the industry.
Andrew Wyllie CBE, said: “It is great to engage with young people, as they are the future of the industry, and to do so in a state-of-the-art facility is fantastic.
”It is often easy to forget that civil engineering is essential to day-to-day life. Watching these young people experiment with something as vital to modern society as sewerage or drinking water, and to understand the role civil engineering plays in that is wonderful. They were truly engaged and inspired.”
Penny Marshall, Regional Director for ICE Yorkshire and Humber, said:
“Being able to bring the President of the ICE to meet such innovative and inquisitive young people was a real pleasure. He was able to see some of the possible future engineers from the region, and they were able to meet someone who has carved a successful career in the industry.
”We are delighted to have this ground-breaking facility in Yorkshire and Humber helping to train the next generation of civil engineers. It is an asset to the region, and I am incredibly pleased that the young people who came here today were able to benefit from it, as many more will in the future.”
Prof Joby Boxall, head of Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield, said: “We’d like to say a huge thank you to the students and Mr Wyllie for visiting the facility and seeing what we have to offer. We hope to inspire many more students in the future to change the world through civil engineering.”