Local children in Gloucester get to work with Delphi

To encourage children to become the engineers of tomorrow, GFirst LEP has been working with Delphi, a specialist engineering and manufacturing company based in Stonehouse to work with local primary schools in Gloucester, and STEMworks, to build and program robots as part of a county wide challenge to raise enthusiasm in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

The challenge was launched earlier this year across Gloucestershire to get 2,013 primary school children working with engineering and manufacturing businesses. In the Stonehouse area, the project has been met with great enthusiasm and on Tuesday 25th June, the best team of three pupils from each participating school in the local area were invited to spend a half day with Delphi.

Aged between 10 and 11, three children from Beech Green, Grange ,Heron, and Hempsted primary schools, enjoyed a tour around the premises where they were able to see at first hand exactly how an engineering and manufacturing company uses computers and robots as part of its specialised engineering processes, before receiving certificates in recognition of their achievement.

Mr Coles, Head Teacher, Heron Primary school said “This project has been amazing and to see the delight on the children’s faces when they had completed their first moving robot was an absolute pleasure. Without the assistance of Delphi and GFirst LEP, the children would not have been able to have enjoyed this experience. I’m sure as a result of this exposure, many more young children will be keen to follow a career in, science, technology, engineering and maths.”

Kathrin Beckerleg, HR Manager, Delphi said: “I am delighted that this campaign has already been such a resounding success. We wanted to encourage a future generation of engineers in the county and we were keen to establish better links between schools and businesses; which has been done with fantastic results. I really think that the participating schools and pupils have really benefitted from this project which we are keen to repeat.”

David Owen, Chief Executive, GFirst LEP said: “Across the county, the project has been a huge success with nearly 4,000 primary school children getting involved. It has been met with such enthusiasm by youngsters that we want to repeat the project again and get more schools and companies involved. As part of our growth plan, we need to ensure that we have the right skills in the county and we are keen to encourage young people to pursue a future career in engineering and manufacturing.”