Space agency supply company gives A-level workshop about engineering

“I really liked the way that the inventor took ideas from nature in building up membranes to protect mobile phones from water. ‘Superhydrophobicity’ is the key word,” said a very inspired Lizzie Burn after the Engineering lunch with Mr Eaton and Mr Boxshall from Smiths Connectors. These two guests spoke this week (2 February) to twelve Lower Sixth students at St George’s College, Weybridge about the role of innovation in product development and nanotechnology.

“I was especially interested in the points on Amorphous Metals. Elastic as plastic was an excellent phrase,” said student Lizzie Burn; whilst fellow student Ben Brown said: “It was fascinating to learn that reducing the size of cabling could have a vital impact on jumbo jet design.”

The emphasis of the special workshop was on becoming a chartered engineer, with the thumbs up given to the value of a placement year for helping graduates find employment.

Student Jakob Youngblood-Costa was particularly interested in researching the nano-contact pieces and student Alex Carter enjoyed the opportunity to handle some of the finer engineering pieces. “Look beyond marginal gains” was one key message from the speakers.

Smiths Connectors, an engineering company, works with organisations such as NASA and the European Space Agency, so the students really saw how their A-level lessons today could be funnelled into being a future specialism.

Suzanne Knights

Head of Careers

St George’s College