A career in STEM

Five Year 9 girls from Pipers Corner explored the option of a career in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) when they attended an Instron Early Career’s Day, completing a range of activities with a focus on Science and Engineering.

Instron is a worldwide market leader in the materials testing industry with Head Offices based in High Wycombe. The Company regularly runs early careers days in order to inspire and encourage students in the local area to think about science and engineering as a potential career path, particularly young girls. The idea behind the sessions is to demonstrate the many different aspects of the world of engineering in order to help young people in their career decision-making process.

On the day the girls joined four other teams of five students from local schools to participate in a carousel of events which included:

• Freezing with liquid nitrogen – the teams had to make fresh flowers freeze in seconds with liquid nitrogen and then crush them like glass.
• Making the best paper plane – the groups were challenged to make paper planes which were then tested to see which team’s plane would fly the furthest. As part of this the groups needed to consider the cost of materials and think about the number of folds in their calculations to get the greatest efficiency.
• Design challenge - the participants had the opportunity to use CAD / CAM machines to make personalised aluminium key rings and spinning tops.
• Making stable structures – Using only sweets and cocktail sticks the teams were set the task of building a structure that would support a pile of paper pads.
• Spaghetti bridge challenge – the last challenge of the day was the testing of spaghetti bridges each school group had prepared in advance (using only spaghetti and glue) and brought along with them on the day.

The Pipers’ team was delighted that their spaghetti bridge was judged to be the most effective. As a result each of the girls received a solar robot as a reward for their efforts.

Head of Careers, Ms Bevan, said “Having the chance to participate in a day of activities such as this was a fantastic experience for the girls. It really opened their eyes to all that a STEM career has to offer and the huge range of possibilities available to them in the fields of Science and Engineering.”