Titled LaunchBox, the new project will see more than 30 engineers trained in outreach with a particular focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity, and directly engage and inform 300+ girls and non-binary students aged 13-17 about the wide-ranging applications of robotics.
Researchers Dr Helmut Hauser and Dr Hemma Philamore together with PhD candidates and Leads of WiR UK Yael Zekaria, Edith-Clare Hall, Isabelle Ormerod, Ella Maule have been awarded a £30,000 Ingenious award for public engagement from the Royal Academy of Engineering to fund the project.
The LaunchBox team said: “Robotics is a core engineering field that extends into many different applications, such as medicine, psychology, social sciences, arts, ethics and many others.
“However, many young people are not aware of this exciting interdisciplinary STEM context, and on top of this, gender biases manifest early with boys often having more positive views of engineering, even in primary school despite women tending to outperform their male counterparts at the university level.
“This project aims to change this perception and therefore inspire a more diverse and inclusive community of roboticists.”
The team will train professional engineers from industry working in robotics to create STEM outreach ‘LaunchBoxes’ reflecting their backgrounds, experiences and passions, highlighting the existing diversity within robotics and making it feel more accessible.
With support of partner RS Grass Roots, the boxes will become the building blocks to facilitate the creation of a wide range of robotics systems which will fuel hands-on workshops with real-world relevance for young people aged 13-17 across the UK.
The University of Bristol project is one of 16 Ingenious awards for public engagement designed to inspire the next generation of engineers.
The newly funded projects will engage communities throughout the UK to help reach underrepresented audiences and change perceptions of engineering.
Ingenious Panel Chair Pete Lomas said: “Look around you, can you find something that has not had engineering involvement? That’s a question I often pose to schoolchildren and their parents.
“Probably there will be very little that hasn’t. From the built environment to the production of the food we eat, even the clothes we wear have all been engineered.
“The Ingenious programme aims to support creative outreach, change perceptions of the profession and exemplify the diversity of opportunities that engineering has to offer as a career.
“It also provides engineers with the skills to effectively communicate their work and promote engineering to the wider population. “I’m looking forward to following the activities of the imaginative outreach projects we have funded this year and seeing their impact on the participants.”
For more information visit: Ingenious public engagement awards (raeng.org.uk)