Yeovil students pioneer sustainable engineering solutions

The recent UN Climate Change Conference COP26 highlighted the environmental concerns of people around the world, and Leonardo sought to transform this climate anxiety into positive action, by empowering 733 local young people to use sustainable engineering techniques through a green STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) challenge.

Hosted virtually by aerospace engineering company Leonardo in partnership with the Royal Aeronautical Society, Cool Aeronautics 2021 invited Yeovil school students to pioneer sustainable engineering solutions to rescue a fictional environmental mission in the Caribbean, led by Sir David Attenborough.

Above: Leonardo’s STEM Ambassadors. Leonardo.

Leonardo’s STEM Ambassadors included Evelyn King, Bryony Venn, Charlea Boucher, Amy Cobb, Eilidh Seville and James Varney, who led the event. Amy said: “I think a lot of what we discussed as a group was how children love animals and adventure, so we were keen to play into those interests. Young people are becoming increasingly concerned about the environment, so we wanted to base the task around this theme. Although we wanted the activity to have an element of escapism, the environmental issues we tapped into were very real.”

At the start of the day, the participants were involved in a mock scenario, which saw a team of students set sail from Weymouth Harbour on the RRS Sir David Attenborough for an environmental mission in the Caribbean to monitor turtle populations. Subsequently, the team entered uncharted waters; their boat hit a reef and damaged the engine. The team then had to get to the top of a tall peak on a tropical island nearby so that they could use the ship’s radio to call for help. However, as the radio was too heavy to carry up to the top, they had to build a wind turbine to act as a winch. When the turbine spins, it was able to be used to lift the radio up to the top of the mountain.

Milford Primary School designs its raft, left, before building it, right. Leonardo.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the event was hosted virtually via Webex, allowing schools to tune into a live workshop hosted by Leonardo STEM Ambassadors from the Yeovil site, with breakout rooms where each school had a mentor who coached them through each task. The added advantage of this virtual approach was that it removed typical financial barriers to entry for schools with smaller budgets for STEM activities, with many participating for the first time. In advance of the event, all of the schools were sent build kits containing recyclable materials carefully sourced by Leonardo’s STEM Ambassadors. The materials were either biodegradable or made from recyclables.

Participating schools included: All Saints Church of England Primary School, Milford Primary School, Ash Church of England Primary School, East Coker Community Primary School, West Coker School, Ilchester Community Primary School, North Cadbury Church of England Primary School, Preston C of E Primary School, Curry Mallet C of E Primary School, Barwick and Stowford County Primary School, St Mary’s C of E Primary School, Holy Trinity School, St Michael’s Academy, Kingfisher Primary School, Oaklands Community School, Countess Gytha School and St Gildas Catholic Primary School.

The students also had the opportunity to pose questions directly to Leonardo’s senior management in a guest panel session led by David Hillcoat, Head of UK Programmes at Leonardo Helicopters (UK). Participants included Alex Hansford, AW101 Aircraft Manager; Thijay Sumoreeah, Non-Metallics Materials Engineer; Amy Petrie, Stress Engineer and Mark Burnand, Chief Test Pilot.

Above: School design, build and, finally, test its raft. Leonardo.

The team observed that the more detail they provided about the sea turtles, the location, and environmental considerations, the more engrossed the children became in the task. However, they were careful to strike the right balance.

Bryony added: “Using recyclable materials is a good way of helping the planet, as you are avoiding plastic which can harm the sea turtles. We wanted to be sure that we didn’t scare the students by increasing their concerns about the environment, so we kept the atmosphere light and made the tasks as fun and interactive as possible. We gave them a very simple message that less rubbish can help the sea turtles and doing little things can make a big difference.”

These events represent a crucial part of the Society’s long-term efforts to provide a ‘throughlife’ approach to its outreach and careers activities. Last year over 400 participants joined a virtual Cool Aeronautics event created by Leonardo’s STEM Ambassadors, so the 733 school students who took part in this year’s event have broken all previous records for participation.

Eilidh said: “This event confirmed students will exceed your expectations if you give them a task that shows them how engineering can make positive changes in the real world.”