Greenpower
The Greenpower Iberia Webinar offered by the IMechE Iberia Branch on the 29 October was organised to show how young people can start developing their professional competences as defined by the Engineering Council before they decide to follow an engineering career path.
The way in which these students are motivated from their years at primary school through to their first professional posts can be seen in the video Greenpower - an extraordinary Journey.
The activities of the Greenpower Education Trust have been evolving for over 20 years now, with different countries moulding the infrastructure and specific learning objectives to the requirements they identify to be appropriate to the industrial and educational culture where the initiative is being implemented.
With Greenpower in the Iberia Peninsula, the team of volunteers launching this framework were all from the IMechE, and therefore in the same manner as the IET, who are national partners in the UK, we were aware of the need not only to motivate young people towards engineering, but also to develop their professional competencies in fun, learning environment. Bearing this in mind, we have incorporated activities such as project management presentations in English to improve participants' communication skills, including those in the Goblin category (9 to 11 years of age) as you can see below.
Greenpower is an ideal tool to achieve these objectives as the open learning culture visible in the UK with experienced teams willing to help new teams get started and develop the necessary knowledge base. An example of this in the presentation is in the video of the Jaguar LandRover team manufacturing their eChook Nano feedback and variable speed controller, with a range of further videos on how to calibrate different sensors to feed information back to the pits on the corresponding mobile phone app.
The volume of races that teams can participate in from March to October also offers the opportunity for students to maintain their motivation high, as well as continually reflecting on the different manners in which they could continue to improve their cars range.
This format offers a range of opportunities for children to investigate what they actually want to choose as their professional career, with each car build needing all members of a professional multidisciplinary team to make the project feasible. Evidence of this can be found in the feedback that Greenpower has received from participants, with over 70% choosing a STEM-based career, while the others identify that they would prefer roles in areas such as marketing, human resources or financing.
Greenpower also offers a great opportunity for industry to integrate with education, both in the development of the abilities of students to meet the specific requirements of each industrial organisation as well as identifying talented and motivated students to incorporate in organisations apprenticeship and graduate training schemes, as was visible during the presentation in the 2015 Renishaw apprentices and graduate teams.
The level to which industry participates in Greenpower varies dramatically. In Iberia, we have industrial organisations sponsoring both teams as well as the race events. While in more developed Greenpower frameworks such as the UK, many organisations do apply similar models to that of Renishaw and not just of the automotive sector.
It has been a very satisfying process to see how the Greenpower network has grown to over 60 teams in our first three years, offering a variety of race events both in urban circuits as well as professional race circuits. It was also a great step forward to have teams from Bilbao and Lisbon competing in the International Finals at Silverstone in 2019. We had hoped for teams from technical colleges to be competing in the 2020 finals in the UK, but COVID-19 has made car development and travelling to races difficult.
I hope that the lesson that we have learnt can be of use to new countries where Greenpower is being implemented, such as Germany where teams have already been established with the support of the IMechE in Munich, and the Association Educative Kid's Kitcar of Bilbao that now have moved 2 of their teams to Hamburg.
Good luck to all teams participating in Greenpower and I hope that next year we will be able to offer a full racing calendar.
as Germany where teams have already been established with the support of the IMechE in Munich, and the Association Educative Kid's Kitcar of Bilbao that now have moved 2 of their teams to Hamburg.
Good luck to all teams participating in Greenpower and I hope that next year we will be able to offer a full racing calendar.
Paul Riley, Vice-Chair, Kid's Kitcar Association
SOFE workshop on public speaking
Do you want your friends to say with pride: "That guy, that guy over there is my BEST friend!!". If this is so, keep on reading.
But first, do you know what "SOFE" stands for? You are absolutely right! Speak Out for Engineering.
And do you know what the SOFE is all about?
You are right again! The SOFE is a competition for young engineers designed by our Institution to help develop verbal and visual communication in explaining technical mechanical engineering related subjects.
But, did you know that the Iberia Group of the IMechE organised a SOFE workshop on public speaking on 31 October 2020?
Wow! Yes, let me say it again out loud: wow! And not just because you missed it or because it was something difficult to organise (it was not that hard after-all); but because you missed a workshop that was intended to allow the audience to learn how to structure a presentation, how to persuade their audience, how to show your passion on the stage, and many other fun and interesting topics presented by some of the best public speakers from Toastmasters Iberia, a part of Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organisation that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs.
And why should I bother to keep on reading if I missed this event? - you might be asking yourself.
The answer is simple. If you do not read the following lines, then you will REALLY miss the opportunity to develop your public speaking skills and be known as "my best friend" among your colleagues.
And why is that?
Because we have created a podcast for you to listen to while you commute to work, or when you are in the gym, or before you go to bed, or even when you are in the shower (but not singing, obviously).
So, are you ready to impress your friends and colleagues?
Yes?
Really? Then, do not waste your time and go to your usual podcast app on your mobile phone and look for: "SOFE Workshop on Public Speaking". Go, go, go!!!
If you are not listening to the podcast already and you are still reading these lines, then you are not a techy person; which I doubt, since you are an IMechE Member. If this is the case, the simplest thing is to go to the SOfE workshop webpage. You will have the chance to see all the podcasts at a glance with no effort whatsoever and you will be able to listen to any of them straight away.
And what "episode" should I start listening to?
Do you want my recommendation?
I would suggest to start with the podcast you feel will be more enlightening for you. However, you can always start with the podcast "When to say a joke" because, you are right, you can say a joke even in the most serious presentation but, do you really know when?
And now, if you share this article, or even the podcast, with your friends and colleagues, you will be their BEST and FUNNIEST friend ever.
Enjoy it!
Jose Maria Garteiz, Iberia Group Treasurer