North East engineers set up ‘Bring it On’

A major new engineering exhibition aims to inspire school children to take up an engineering career.

Bring it On, a free, two-day event for primary and secondary school students, is organised by engineers from the Institution’s North East Region in collaboration with Sunderland Rotary Club, the IET, high-profile engineering companies, and STEM educators. They want to champion the North East, raise young people’s aspirations to work in engineering in the region and help close the skills gap. This will be the first Bring it On event but the organisers hope to run it every year.

Bring it On takes place 3rd–4th October 2017 at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light. Engineering companies will showcase local activities and products, while young engineers will explain their jobs to visiting children. As well as experiencing engineering ‘zones’, which include automotive, subsea and offshore, and creative and digital technology, there will be an opportunity for children to visit a zone called ‘I bet you didn’t know this was engineering’ – where they may be surprised to discover what an engineering career can look like and the many sectors it touches.   

Bowman Bradley, Vice-Chair North East Region, said:

“We are aiming to educate, inspire and inform around 2,500 North East school students, aged between nine and 14. Already, 92 schools have signed up and headlining businesses in the region are on board, including Caterpillar and Unipres (UK) Ltd, which provides components to car makers including Nissan, Renault and Honda. 

“One of the most exciting elements of this event is the exclusive teacher-training opportunity, which can help teachers understand the range of engineering career options for their pupils. We have teachers on our steering committee to ensure we communicate effectively with our target age-group.

There will be an accredited teacher CPD session delivered by STEMLearning and the opportunity to engage with Primary Engineer, Greenpower, Tomorrow’s Engineers and Big Bang, amongst others, in a dedicated teachers’ zone.”

Funding is in place but the organisers are calling for more investment to help make Bring it On even more special for young people attending. If you would like to support the event, please visit the Just Giving page.

Places are free but limited. Local companies are encouraged to get in touch to book their space. The deadline for school registrations is Friday 28th April 2017. Sign up or get in touch at: www.bringitonne.co.uk