Edinburgh 23 giugno 2015 13:00
The Duke of Rothesay visited an engineering event for girls in Edinburgh on 23 June to mark National Women in Engineering Day. This was hosted by Finmeccanica – Selex ES at their Crewe Toll site.
His Royal Highness, who has been championing engineering as a career for a number of years, met with girls from schools in the area getting involved in a range of high-tech activities and representatives from other companies and organisations involved in promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
The day is part of Selex ES's involvement with engineering in education programmes. Activities on the day, including building circuit boards, constructing robots and launching rockets, are all aimed at stimulating the girls' interest in the fascinating world of science and technology.
HRH also heard about Selex ES's research initiative, conducted in conjunction with local schools, aimed at gathering data to provide viable evidence of the effect that fun and informal STEM games and activities, like the ones on the day, can have on girls’ educational outcomes and subject choices.
Local primary 7 school girls aged between 11 and 12 years of age have also been invited to attend National Women in Engineering Day 2015 events at the company's Basildon and Southampton sites on 18 June and in Luton on 20 June, as well as Edinburgh. The goal is to give the girls the opportunity to understand what engineering really is – a creative, dynamic world based on innovation. It is hoped that through a range of activities, of which this day is a part, girls and their parents can have a better sense that they can have a future on the engineering side of STEM. As they progress through school and beyond, this will make available a broader choice of careers than they might have imagined.