STEM Sussex Blog
Technicians in the wars!
June 18 2010
STEM Sussex was invited to the West Sussex Secondary Science Technicians’ Conference on Friday 18 July to round off the day with a heated battle.
The technicians were allocated to groups of three or four and then asked, in a very short space of time, to build an Antweight Robot. 12 teams entered robots into the competition, with robots required to compete in a drag race and then be the last robot remaining in the sumo ring.
The robots came pre-prepared with different types of wheels, but each team had to decide on a chassis shape and shell structure. Each of the teams came up with a unique design for their robot, ranging from big and bulky to small and quick.
The drag race was won decisively by Wendy and Doug, West Sussex County Council Science Advisors, who also arranged the content of the day at Chichester High School for Girls. The sumo battles were more closely fought, with three robots being declared joint winners after the battle ended in a stalemate that would have lasted all afternoon if the teams had their way!
Doug commented afterwards: "The robot wars at the Technicians’ conference was a great success. Thank-you so much for running that for us. It hit just the right note for the afternoon session."
Students and teachers visit General Dynamics in Hastings for the e4P project
June 15 2010
The first e4P visit was carried out at General Dynamics, a company who utilise high level physics and engineering as part of their day to day business. The students attending were given a presentation by STEM Ambassadors based at the company, giving plenty of detail in how physics was applied in the company. A tour of the site was included, meaning that the group had the chance to get up close to the equipment, seeing first-hand how the physics they study in their AS and A levels has real application.
One teacher who attended said her group "had really enjoyed it and came home feeling very fired up ... it was obvious that a lot of thought had gone into the presentation and the level was just right; really well tied into the A level physics curriculum."
Three more e4P visits are planned in Sussex, with others in counties across the South East. If you would like to find out more about the project and how schools and companies may be able to get involved, please contact Paul Sayers (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)), e4P Project Manager.
Bradford Business Game at Sussex Coast College
June 08 2010
Thirty students from Sussex Coast College in Hastings took part in the Bradford Business Game, run at the college by STEM Sussex, on Tuesday 8 June. The Game, STEM Sussex’s local answer to The Apprentice, is a full day business enterprise competition for KS4/5 students, with teams working together to launch and run the most successful business. The aim of this exciting Game is to produce products to fulfil hard-fought orders, whilst negotiating with a Buyer who is impossible to please, seeking out bargains from the suppliers, and finally ending the day with the largest profit for your company.
Working in teams, the students developed and ran a company for the day, competing against each of the other teams to negotiate the best deals and make the biggest overall profit. Each member of the team undertook a different role within the company, including Managing Director, Accountant, Sales Manager, Marketing Manager and production team. This gave each individual a clear aim for the day and helped the teams work effectively together.
The teams were presented with various challenges during the day by the Game Manager, our very own (slightly kinder!) of Alan Sugar, to keep the production lines busy. Once the Bank had closed towards the end of the day, two members of the team were challenged to give a presentation on how well their team had worked and why the Buyer should choose them as their sole supplier.
The team with the most money in their account at the end of the day was declared the winner, with a prize also given to the team who gave the best presentation.
The College AimHigher Coordinator said: ‘It was great to see the more involved the students got the more they became engaged and excited about the tasks.’
Colour In Film at Brighton Museum
May 28 2010
To coincide with an exhibition on the development of colour in film at Brighton Museum, STEM Sussex was invited to run a session on the science of colour for home educated teenagers at the Museum on Friday 28 May.
The group of eleven 13-16 year olds were undertaking a series of workshops at the museum exploring the exhibit and the principles behind the exhibition working with the Education staff at the Museum.
STEM Sussex’s afternoon workshop invited the group to think about the physics and biology of how we see colour, including looking at the electromagnetic spectrum, how light waves are involved with our perception of colour and examining the biology of the eye. Museum staff and the students in the group were invited to think about subtractive and additive colour – the differences between mixing colour with light and with pigment. The session also gave participants a chance to make use of STEM Sussex’s high speed imaging cameras, demonstrating the amazing way our eyes process the information we receive at very high speeds and how much we might miss or make up! The afternoon ended with some optical illusions that confuse the brain which got the group thinking about how easy it is for us to trick our eyes.
The group were amazed at the idea that scientists suggest there are up to 10 million different possible colours but that our eyes can only perceive differences between 1 million of these and were challenged during the break to think of as many different names of colours that they could. Between everyone, the group came up with names for over 60 colours, though there was disagreement on which colour matched with which name, showing how subjective the idea of colour is.
When asked to give some feedback on the session, all students were very positive. One said "it was really interesting learning about how eyes work and perceive colour", another added "there is so much to remember but I understood most of it".
The session was tailored to the groups’ needs by STEM Sussex and delivered at the Museum over a three hour period. For more information about how STEM Sussex can develop activities to meet your specific needs please get in touch.
Advanced Sports Imaging at William Parker Sports College
May 21 2010
Two groups of boys from William Parker Sports College in Hastings got the chance to experience some of the latest developments in Advanced Sports Imaging during a specialist session run by STEM Sussex recently.
As well as finding out about the different careers available out of the direct sporting spotlight, the boys were able to utilise two high speed imaging cameras and a thermal imaging camera to focus on how technology is supporting developments in the sporting world.
The group were challenged to use the high speed camera to find out how fast they could kick a ball and were amazed when results were calculated at over 30mph with one student clocking an impressive 50mph. The thermal imaging camera was used to look at heat transfer from the body before and after a period of exercise. Students worked in teams to predict which areas of the body would have temperature increases as a result of the exercise and devised an active exercise which two member of the team then had to do for a period of three minutes. The students were able to use the thermal imaging camera to decide whether their predictions were correct.
Reactions from pupils and teachers at the school were overwhelmingly positive, with most pupils complaining that the session was over too quickly. Graham, one of the teachers at William Parker who initially contacted STEM Sussex said “The pupils loved it and it’s definitely something we would look to do next year”.
More information about the IET Advanced Sports Imaging Activity
Engineering Education Scheme featured in the News
May 12 2010
Four talented students from the Engineering Education Scheme, hosted locally by STEM Sussex, were featured in the national news this week. Peter O’Sullivan, Husman Mahmood, Imran Ahmed and Vipulan Sivarajah, students from Hazelwick school in Crawley, were working with engineers from Thales Systems on a challenging project that aimed to support the military by searching out Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), one of the leading causes of military fatalities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The team, supported by their teacher Mr Joe Hillier and Mr Tabraze Malik from Thales, designed built a remote controlled buggy that used metal detecting technology to potentially search out the IEDs. The buggy was a challenge to build, as none of the components used in the build could interfere with the detection mechanism, plus it had to be able to cope with the challenging terrain faced in the war zones.
Their Engineering Education Scheme experience was enhanced by a three day residential workshop where they were able to tap in to the expertise of the technicians at the University of Brighton to perfect their design and build their prototype.
The scheme, open to all sixth forms in Sussex, has attracted national media interest and the team from Hazelwick School was featured on the BBC national news on Tuesday 11 May ( news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8675315.stm ).
All the teams gathered together for the Celebration and Assessment Day on 28 April at the University of Brighton. They exhibited their work to senior engineers from the supporting companies and got the opportunity to share their work with parents and the other teams.
STEM Sussex is really pleased we can offer the EES to AS level students in Sussex for the next academic year – anyone interested should contact Bronagh Liddicoat, STEM Sussex Manager, on 01273 642023.
Sussex’s STEM Ambassadors supporting schools.
May 11 2010
With over 1000 STEM Ambassadors in Sussex we have an amazing wealth of expertise available to our local schools. STEM Sussex really wants to thank all the Ambassadors who are regularly active in supporting schools’ enrichment and enhancement activities. Each Ambassador who visits a school is valued and the pupils gain enormously from the experience.
For example, Mark, a new STEM Ambassador attended a careers event at a school in East Sussex recently. The feedback we got from the teacher following the event shows just how valuable STEM Ambassadors are to our schools: “Just a big thanks for putting us in contact with your ambassador Mark Austin. We had our careers event today and he was awesome. Really appreciate this.”
Another great example of feedback we have recently received from a school comes following National Science and Engineering week where a number of Ambassadors attended a school to give a short talk and take questions from students regarding their careers. The teacher e-mailed us the following week saying: “Science week went well, thank you. Ben was fantastic, interesting, the students were absolutely enthralled! Thanks again for all your help with this!”
The enthusiasm our STEM Ambassadors have for engaging with pupils is clearly evident, and it’s not just secondary schools getting involved. STEM Sussex ran an activity in a local primary school recently which was supported by John, a STEM Ambassador with a strong interest in promotion of maths. The excitement from the children on the day was clear and the teacher confirmed this to us: “Just to say a big thank you for coming to us and giving the children a different, and challenging experience! They certainly got a lot out of it. Many children have since made reference to the morning, and one person has requested that we re-run the session!”
So again, Ambassadors in Sussex – thank you! Schools appreciate your dedication to supporting their pupils and we love hearing the feedback after your visits.
