The Engineering Education Scheme is a scheme run in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

by the

Engineering Development Trust The Engineering Development Trust is a UK non-profit organization, not for shareholder profit organization, which administers a number of schemes designed to encourage school pupils to have an interest and involvement in science and engineering Hi ...

to promote the education of school students about

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

. It is part of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

's ''BEST'' programme. The Engineering Education Scheme is an annual event which can run for over a year after the start. It begins with a launch day in September or October which are held in regional batches. By this point the schools will have selected their team(s) (normally made up of 4 students) who will take part. At the launch the team is put together with their company (for example

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, however one of the largest contributors is the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

) and their company gives them a real life challenge that they would otherwise be working on. They are also given presentations by the scheme's organisers as to exactly what they need to do. For the next 6 months the team works on the project. They get help from their teachers as well as visits from engineers from their companies who discuss their ideas with them. They may also visit the factory of their company. At the start of January the team will spend 3 days at a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

having lectures from engineering professors and using the facilities to test their designs. The scheme finishes at a 'Celebration and Assessment Day' where the teams show off their completed design at a stand along with their report which is usually about 40-80 pages long. They also give a presentation to the assessors. Often their design is actually used by the company who gave it to them. At the end of the event they are awarded a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

award for their efforts. The platinum award is especially prestigious as it is awarded very infrequently. Students involved in the award often go on to read engineering at University, and the scheme is often a factor contributing to successful entry; due to the level of difficulty its completion is highly regarded by admissions tutors.

Actual examples of projects

*"Design a bridge" *"Design a machine for rolling protective plastic over photographic film" *"Investigate and cost energy sources, including renewable for a new factory" * "Design and build a prototype of a device to measure the draught of a submarine" * "Design a wind turbine."

External links

Engineering Education Scheme website

Engineering Development Trust website

Royal Academy of Engineering's education website
1984 establishments in the United Kingdom Engineering societies based in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Hertfordshire Welwyn Hatfield Youth science Engineering education in the United Kingdom {{UK-edu-stub

Actual examples of projects

See also

External links