SATRO
are very much looking forward to exhibiting at the Guildford Means Business at
GLive on 3rd June 2015. We are very much looking forward to
meeting other local companies and getting them involved with our innovative,
challenging and hands on programmes design to inspire young people about their
future careers.
We are an independent, not-for-profit social enterprise that exists to inspire young people about their future careers. Our exciting hands-on programmes involve over 850 volunteers a year, from a huge range of different businesses, large and small.
Wednesday, 27 May 2015
Why there’s nothing better than a good physics demonstration! - Prof Neil Downie
Despite
what many people think, science and engineering are often hugely creative
endeavours – and a great way to draw out that creativity is to make and play
with stuff.
Once you've redesigned or rebuilt something that already works, you become more
confident in your abilities and start to get a real “feel” for stuff. You want
to try new things and start to believe you can apply your theoretical knowledge
too. That’s why novel projects, are so important.
Students
can’t cheat by finding “the answer” on the Internet, in a textbook or from
friends – and so are forced to think. Teachers like these projects too as
they encourage discussion and boost understanding.
Take apart a photocopier, for example, and you’ll find lasers,
sensors, scanners and steam-bubble ink-jet heads, as well as curious assemblies
of mirrors and lenses, plus ingenious systems of rollers and catches to move
paper around. And if the copier breaks down, perhaps you can actually fix it
yourself. More likely, you can’t – but you can still have fun figuring out how
it’s made and how it works!
- From an article written by Prof Neil Downie in Physics World magazine.
Prof
Neil Downie is head of the sensors group at Air Products, Basingstoke,
Hampshire, UK and is a Royal Academy of Engineering visiting professor at the
University of Surrey.
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Thursday, 21 May 2015
SATRO #STEMXAwards : Now Open For Applications!
Nominees
and winners of 2014 Apprenticeship Awards
with the 2014 High Sheriff Peter Lee
|
SATRO’s
STEMX Awards are set to put Surrey’s talented young people centre stage. Showcasing excellence in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the awards will celebrate the excellent
practice and opportunity which exist in the area and demonstrate what companies
and young people are doing to reduce the skills shortages.
There
is a fantastic heritage of innovation in Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) in Surrey and the South East. A wealth of large and small to
medium enterprises make the region an innovation powerhouse contributing to
economic growth and development. Finding and nurturing the skills needed to
fuel this growth can be a challenge, especially in STEM subjects. SATRO and the
STEMX Awards are playing their part to help meet this challenge.
There
are six Awards and applications are invited from businesses and individuals :
STEM Apprentice:
- Individual
achievement
- Contribution to
business
- Progression
- Best STEM School leaver
training programme
- Award for Business for
working with schools to support the development of STEM skills
- Best contribution to
business from students undertaking a STEM work placement
SATRO’s STEMX Awards build on the success of its
Apprenticeship and Scholars Awards. Working with Surrey Chambers of Commerce
and EH Enterprises, this year’s initiative will be even bigger and better. With three new categories and a amazing array
of talent on show, the awards will be an inspiration to young people and
employers alike.
SATRO Chief Executive, Dr Beccy Bowden said “SATRO’s STEMX
Awards seek to show case the wealth of STEM opportunities in our area through
the Awards which we hope will encourage more young people to study STEM
subjects and make the most of the many opportunities that exist ”
The Awards Ceremony
will take place on 29th September at the prestigious Living Planet
Centre in Woking and the evening promises to be a fantastic celebration of
science, engineering and innovation with opportunities to view examples of
young people’s work in industry and listen to an inspirational speaker.
Details on each of
the Award can be found on the SATRO website : http://www.satro.org.uk/#!stemx-awards/c1mli
or by emailing STEMX@satro.org.uk . The
closing date for applications is Monday 6th July, except for the Work Experience Award when the date is Friday 21st August.
Labels:
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Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Are Young Women Natural Hairdressers or Repressed Engineers? - Howard Railton, SATRO Trustee
Both women and men make excellent hairdressers and both women
and men make outstanding engineers. So
why, when we imagine an Engineer, do we think of a man? Both Sciences and Engineering in the UK are
struggling to attract people into training and careers in their fields. This is a critical issue for the UK, with growing
numbers of technical jobs either being filled from outside the UK or the jobs
themselves moving away. One obvious
reason for this problem is that we are only recruiting from half the potential
talent pool.
The number of girls doing A level Physics has not changed in
the last thirty years and remains shamefully low. The number of young women engaged in
technical Apprenticeships is tiny; yet, the overall number of women in other Apprenticeships
is higher than men. The reasons for this
are both simple and very complex.
Someone said that all children are Engineers at the age of eight and
then we beat it out of them. We seem to
beat it out of the girls even more successfully.
Studying Science and the Natural World leads us to some of
the most wonderful, dramatic, satisfying and interesting discoveries. Stimulating children’s interest in the
wonders of our world is intensely rewarding.
Being involved in the application of Science in Engineering and Technology
is exciting and satisfying. So why are
we so poor at getting young women into Science and Engineering? We need to change the way we see the future
for girls and young women and offer them a better opportunity to learn and
contribute to our future. The young
women in Engineering that I have met are talented, capable and bright. They are valued for their ability and effort
and rewarded accordingly. Engineering is
neither dirty, oil stained nor physically hard work. In this age of financial austerity, it is
well paid. So let us encourage parents
and teachers to be open minded about the future of their children and to
positively encourage them to understand and marvel at the wonders of the world
around us.
- Howard Railton, SATRO Trustee
Thursday, 14 May 2015
SATRO TO BE GUILDFORD’S MAYORAL CHARITY 2015/2016
We are delighted to have been chosen by recently appointed Mayor of Guildford, Councillor Nikki Nelson-Smith.
Nikki’s vision for her Mayoral
Year is “Inspiring Guildford’s Future
Innovators”; she believes that young people should be encouraged, inspired
and motivated to be the best that they can be; they should be better informed
about the career choices available and increase their knowledge of the amazing
career opportunities here on their doorstep in Guildford. The Mayor of Guildford, Cllr Nikki
Nelson-Smith commented, “We are lucky to have so many world-class innovative
companies in the Borough who are looking for bright and creative employees”.
Dr Beccy Bowden, CEO of SATRO said
“We are honoured that Cllr Nelson-Smith has chosen SATRO to partner with to
deliver her vision for young people in Guildford who are inspired by local
career opportunities. We have a fantastic heritage of innovation in the town
and we know that many of our companies are struggling to recruit people with
key skills - I hope that our work this year will ensure that even more world
class breakthroughs and developments happen here in the future.”
Over the past 30 years SATRO has
worked with over 450,000 young people in Guildford and indeed across Surrey
inspiring and enthusing them about science, technology, engineering and maths
by linking businesses and young people together through their varied,
innovative range of challenging hands on programmes. Nikki intends to support and inspire
creativity in the young people of Guildford whether they be artists,
technologists or scientists and to help them to aspire to their dream careers.
Thursday, 7 May 2015
Science, Engineering and Getting a Feel for Stuff: essential lessons for the nation - Prof Neil A Downie MA PhD
SATRO is privileged to work with nearly 1,000 volunteers
from all areas of the working world, including many hundreds of scientists and
engineers, one of our regular supporters has given us his views on what today’s
candidates of all parties, should be thinking about, do tell us what you think...
The shortage of a thousand GPs in the next five years is a serious problem that has been well covered in the media. What isn’t covered in the media is much, much more serious; it is a slow motion disaster, nearly a thousand times more serious than the shortage of doctors. It is the million or more shortfall expected in scientists, professional engineers and technicians in the next five years.
We
need a million people with a ‘feel for stuff’, people who have almost
unconscious feel for the real physical world, a feel for what will work
and what won’t. Recently, I interviewed 20 people for a job and rejected
nearly all of them because they simply didn’t have that practical feel.
They had the qualifications, the personal qualities, and they wanted to do the
job. However, they wouldn’t have the confidence to design something that
was new, that was a little different from what had gone before.
Too
many young people are missing out on getting hands-on with practical things
related to science and engineering at an age when abilities are naturally
absorbed. Between the ages of 10 and 18, roughly, if someone has the
chance to make things, to do practical tests and experiments, to see how things
work by taking them apart, the chance to design something new and improved
perhaps, then they will get that magical ‘feel for stuff’. This
practical work will complement their academic studies. If you use
something you have learned, or learn about something you have used, then you
will remember it. And, what is more, remember it in a way that that means
that you will never forget it, and in a way that you will be able to use it.
I tried
out sending coded messages with a group of primary school children last
week. They learnt some great practical stuff about sending messages down
wires and the hardware to do that (it involved calculators: what I call a
‘Calculator Communicator’). Meanwhile a whole lesson in Maths, English
and the alphabet was being sneaked past them as they wrote down and coded, transmitted
and decoded messages.
So
let’s have a campaign for parents, for teachers, for students: it is vital that
they understand this issue and how it affects them. Let’s have a campaign
to train our primary teachers: no primary school should be left without a
teacher with the ability to do practical science, to make things and show kids
how to make things, to show them how things work. And let’s have a
campaign to put science and engineering firmly on the agenda - and the
curriculum - of all schools.
We
need to get our youngsters busy with saw and soldering iron, taking apart
broken Hoovers and printers, and busy making things. Those things may or
not work well as hardware, but will in either case teach our children lessons
essential for them and for the nation.
- Prof
Neil A Downie MA PhD
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
SATRO'S TOP REVISION TIPS
The time of year has arrived - students will be poring over their books, trying to ensure that they are prepared for their exams. We have compiled a list of our top revision tips to help you make the most of your revision time...
Create a timetable
Agree and stick to a routine/timetable for revising. Getting revision done during a specific interval each day will encourage you to become more organised and motivated, knowing that you have a goal to adhere to each day.
Set goals
Set and write down all your goals - what would you like to achieve from revising? Try to be realistic, focussing on 4 or 5 key areas you wish to study or that you know need improvement. Making a list will help you to keep focused, ticking the items off your list will be satisfying too!
Manage tasks effectively
Manage tasks by making them:
Create a timetable
Agree and stick to a routine/timetable for revising. Getting revision done during a specific interval each day will encourage you to become more organised and motivated, knowing that you have a goal to adhere to each day.
Set goals
Set and write down all your goals - what would you like to achieve from revising? Try to be realistic, focussing on 4 or 5 key areas you wish to study or that you know need improvement. Making a list will help you to keep focused, ticking the items off your list will be satisfying too!
Manage tasks effectively
Manage tasks by making them:
- Specific - do past papers of the exam you are revising for.
- Measurable - success in completion of a specific task is easy to measure.
- Realistic - don't create tasks which can't be achieved because it's unrealistic
Quiz yourself
Quizzing yourself is a great way to keep your brain at work and the topics you're revising fresh in your mind. You can ask a friend or parents to help you by asking you a set of questions related to the topics you are studying. You may also find useful quizzes here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/levels/z98jmp3 or here: https://www.examtime.com/a-levels/resources/quizzes/
Mind Maps
A great way of keeping information fresh in your mind is by creating 'mind maps' of key information and sticking them around your house, giving them a quick read every time you walk past.
Reward yourself
Remember to reward yourself once you have completed your revision period each day. This could include seeing your friends, watching TV or anything else you enjoy. This will keep you motivated to complete your revision period.
Think Positively
Finally - THINK POSITIVELY! Consider your mental attitude, how you approach the task and how it might be holding you back. The more positively you think about yourself and your actions, the more you will be able to get completed.
Friday, 1 May 2015
SATRO COMPANY CHALLENGE - SIEMENS "NEXT BIG THING"
- Improving a patients experience when being scanned to identify potential health problems.
- A way of improving healthcare for elderly patients.
- The use of technology, internet and mobile devices to ensure that people living in a remote part of the world have access to the same level of healthcare as those who live in cities and major towns.
- Using products and technology that is available for us, improving the immediate follow up and response to save more lives after a possible natural disaster (tsunamis, floods).
- Thinking of patients, doctors and engineers, a way to control an infectious disease (e.g. Ebola) and reducing it's impact.
Over the past 4 months, each group of students has been working with a staff member from Siemens who has been acting as a mentor to help guide the students in their project. The students will have learnt about marketing and product development, and what it is like to work in the technology/engineering industry - directly from those who do. This experience will have provided the students with a great item to include in university applications or interviews.
Today the students have been presenting their projects to a team of judges. The teams were working towards 3 winning categories, "Best Presentation", "Innovative Research & Development", and "Overall Winner". Each team lead a very strong presentation and had worked very hard in the months running up to today's judging. The winners of each category were as follows; Overall Winners - Reading Girls School, Best Presentation - Tomlinscote School and Innovative Research & Development - Gordon's School.
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