Engineers Ireland is preparing for its annual Week of Wonder, five days of fun events and advice on career options, writes Dick Ahlstrom
Treasure hunts, science shows and a chance to build a robot all feature in the annual Engineered! A Week of Wonder, which runs from Monday to Friday next week.
Organised by Engineers Ireland (EI) and now in its second year, the highly successful event aims to help students aged from eight to 14 and their parents to understand the central role played by engineers in our daily lives and to realise the wide range of engineering careers open to them, explains EI's Aoife O'Mahony.
"It allows students to know exactly what engineers do. It raises the profile of engineering in Ireland and describes for students the career options available in engineering," adds Ms O'Mahony, who manages EI's Steps to Engineering programme, the Science, Technology and Engineering Programme for Schools.
The Week of Wonder and Steps attract considerable support, driven mainly by student interest and curiosity. Last year Steps saw the involvement of about 80,000 students and the Week of Wonder activities accounted for 11,000 of this total, O'Mahony says.
EI is confident the numbers attending the 2008 Week of Wonder will reach 15,000 given a lively mix of events. "Activities are fun and dynamic and far from boring. It gets children involved in a hands on way," she says.
The week attracts students but also their parents, an important consideration from EI's perspective. The parents also learn about the wide range of career opportunities in engineering, not only in the presumed road and bridge building but in computer technology, biomedical devices, telecommunications and mobile technologies to name just a few, states Ms O'Mahony.
The treasure hunts are a key feature of the Week of Wonder programme. Five regional hunts are planned during the week in Cork, Limerick, Galway, Athlone and Dublin and last year they attracted 1,800 participants.
Groups of four, typically involving one parent and four children, are given a route map taking them to various locations where they must answer questions or find things. Sponsors such as Junior Chamber Ireland and Sustainable Energy Ireland assist with these events.
Then there is the K'NEX Challenge, a building competition involving the K'NEX construction toy. Students are asked to build a variety of things from robots to wind powered vehicles or models of engineered structures. For example, students will be asked to build models of Munster rugby headquarters Thomond Park in a competition sponsored by Michael Punch and Partners, which is overseeing the reconstruction of the hallowed grounds.
Science and engineering shows are planned in the five locations mentioned above and a Day of Discovery is planned for Birr Castle Desmesne.
EI is an all-Ireland body and this year the Week of Wonder programme includes events in Belfast at the W5 centre and in the University of Ulster's Magee and Coleraine campuses.
The week specifically targets younger students in the hope of influencing their subsequent choice of careers, O'Mahony says. Parental involvement supports this in helping parents realise the career options and as appropriate, encouraging their children to pursue studies in engineering.
Steps runs events all through the year, including those more suited to older students. It brings working engineers into schools to meet students and talk to them about the role and job of the engineer.
EI itself is a representative body for engineers on both sides of the Border. It promotes engineering as a profession and funds ongoing education for engineers throughout their careers.
All of the Engineered! A Week of Wonder events are free of charge, but participation must be booked ahead of time.
A full programme of events, venues, times and booking options are available at www.weekofwonder.ie.
More information about the Steps programme is available at www.steps.ie; the Engineers Ireland website is www.iei.ie