More than 500 young people and their families are expected to descend upon Dumfries House on Friday (26 July) to enjoy the estate’s annual Family Engineering Day, with some travelling from as far afield as London and Manchester.
The free event, funded by the ScottishPower Foundation, will take place at The Morphy Richards Engineering Education Centre from 10.30am until 3.30pm and is suitable for all age groups from four-year-olds to school leavers. The fun event will give budding engineers the opportunity to take part in lots of fun, educational activities that highlight the ways in which clever engineering can solve real world challenges.
During the event, a host of local companies will be on hand to showcase their latest gadgets and technologies. Visitors will get a chance to see behind-the-scenes at a chemical plant and enjoy a bird’s eye view of windfarms through the latest virtual reality technology. There will also be lots of exciting aerospace related activities to mark the 50th year since man landed on the moon.
Attendees will be able to measure their lung capacity as part of an activity exploring how engineering helps in the world of medicine. There will also be a chance for participants to get creative with circuits, engineer origami, wander on wildlife walks, hear the science of sound, see 3D printers in action, build bridges and experience spectacular storytelling.
Karen Alexander, STEM education manager for The Prince’s Foundation at Dumfries House, said: “This year’s Family Engineering Day will feature a huge range of fun problem-solving challenges that will encourage and inspire young people to find out more about how engineering shapes the world around them.
“Working in science and engineering can be incredibly exciting and we want to encourage future creators and innovators. Technology is constantly changing and it is hard to predict what jobs will be on offer in the future which is why we want to encourage problem-solving and creativity from a young age.
“We are very grateful to the ScottishPower Foundation for funding the event and hope that it inspires all those thinking about a career in science and engineering to take that next step.”
The Dumfries House Engineering Family Day is being run in conjunction with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET’s) Open Doors day, which last year featured 50 seperate events across the UK with 5000 young people taking part.
The Morphy Richards Engineering Education Centre at Dumfries House was officially opened by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2015 and is now used to challenge thousands of visiting school pupils to imagine, design, build and test solutions to real-world problems every year.
Earlier this month, The Prince’s Foundation’s new Outdoor Elements education programme was shortlisted for the ScottishPower Foundation Awards 2019. The awards ceremony takes place in September and the winning organisation will receive £5000 additional funding.
Inspired by the natural elements, the Outdoor Elements programme aims to inspire the next generation of creatives and innovators by connecting them with the natural environment through hands-on learning experiences that cannot be easily replicated in the classroom.
The programme aims to raise awareness of the challenges our planet faces and how pupils can be at the forefront of solving them.