Member Article

All aboard for TyneMet engineering students

Engineering students at TyneMet College who expressed an interest in working in the UK rail industry recently attended an event organised by Gen Y Rail – North East at the Hancock Museum.

At the event the five students; At the event the five students; Poppy Baxter, 17, from Walkergate and Rachael Waterworth, 17, from North Shields, who are both studying on the Subsidiary Diploma in Mechanical Engineering Level 3 and Anthony White, 16, from Whitley Bay, Ben Wheatley, 17, from Wallsend, Will Best, 16, from Cramlington, who are all studying on the BTEC First Extended Certificate in Engineering Level 2, listened to presentations given by apprentices and graduates currently working in the rail industry. \

The students met with local and national employers as well as other colleges and universities to find out what apprenticeships and degrees are on offer to them in this exciting sector. They also had the opportunity to talk directly to employers about current future career opportunities that exist in the rail industry.

On the day the students were asked to participate in a ‘Team Challenge’. Each team was given a brief to design a new freight train to transport people and freight. The teams were encouraged to use their initiative and were given hints to take into consideration when thinking about variables such as; the overall design, the facilities on board for the passengers, the type of carriage most suitable for the freight and its relevant weight and were given resources to illustrate their final plan.

The judges marked each presentation on the following criteria; a clear understanding of the brief, the level of innovation and creativity shown, how realistic the proposed design was and the teams were also judged by the Dragon’s Den style panel of judges on their presentation skills.

Although the TyneMet Team didn’t win the competition, they thoroughly enjoyed taking part and listened carefully to the design plans of the other teams.

Lyndsey Moy, Pastoral Tutor, Engineering Department, TyneMet College, said: “The students and I really enjoyed the day at the Hancock, the exhibition was extremely informative and the presentations given by the apprentices, graduates and employers were inspiring and gave a true reflection of the exciting opportunities that the rail industry has to offer.

“The students performed very well in the Team Challenge and they came up with some very interesting concepts and designs. Competing against other colleges and schools was a fantastic experience for the students; they worked brilliantly as a team and were confident and competent when delivering their presentation.

“The skills that the students learned and developed on the day have given them more confidence - they all said that the competition helped them realise the importance of team work and planning for design.

“I look forward to attending this event again next year!”

To find out more about Engineering courses at TyneMet College, call and speak to a student advisor on 0191 229 5000, email enquiries@tynemet.ac.uk or visit www.tynemet.ac.uk/engineering

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lisa Dawson .