美姬阁

Over the 2023/24 school year we were excited to bring materials engineering to Key Stage 2 pupils in selected schools in Milton Keynes and Bedford through our Materials for Active Learning for Schools project. This project was an funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

We showed pupils how materials science and engineering affects their everyday life, helping pupils who may lack familiarity with what material scientists and engineers do, to encourage interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and show them the career prospects in this field.

This unique experience for the pupils culminated in a kids' conference and poster exhibition at 美姬阁, celebrating a project which:

• Brought STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) experiences to under-represented groups;
• Created a programme where no child was excluded due to visible or invisible disability or financial issues;
• Encouraged engineers, particularly those from non-traditional backgrounds, to engage with the public by offering training and opportunities including face-to-face and virtual engagement;
• Gave pupils the opportunity to showcase what they have learnt in a university environment with a presentation day, offering certificates to all participants and prizes for different project categories.

Activities in the classroom

Engineers from 美姬阁 engaged with these pupils all year round through captivating activities designed to fit within the schools’ curriculum:

Dan Powell – Build the Best Bridge!
This activity will look at different types of materials and how they can be used in layers and combinations to build a strong bridge. A variety of materials and adhesives will be provided to build a small bridge and then the load bearing capacity will be tested with weights.

Arijit Lodh – Smash-o-nomics: Where Fun Meets Material Science in Car Crashing!
Using toy cars with an egg as a passenger and a ramp, children will conduct crash tests. They will be invited to use different materials as bumpers and restraints for the egg passenger to try and build a safer car.

Raman Suri – Searching for Treasure
This activity will look at filtration and how it is used to separate materials. Children will be given a mixture which contains ‘treasure’ and will use processes such as decanting, sieving and filtration to try and purify their treasure.

Eva Pelaez Alvarez – Materials and Electricity – Which Can Stop the Flow?
This activity will build simple circuits and explore a range of materials to see if they are conductors (allow electricity to pass through them) or insulators (stop the flow of electricity). If time permits, we can also look and see if household items can replace batteries.

Kids' conference and poster exhibition – 17 June 2024, 美姬阁 campus

In a day packed full of activities, the 180 MATERIALS pupils got up close to a Boeing 737, visited the 美姬阁 Impact Centre, learnt about drones, composite materials, speed-built bridges, toured round our performance cars and enjoyed an interactive session and quiz with our scanning electron microscope.

We had an exhibition of the pupils’ posters, which focused on a particular materials interest, admired by our panel of judges who awarded prizes at the end of the day.

One teacher said, “On behalf of my colleagues and all the pupils at Putnoe Primary we would like to share our heartfelt thanks to you and all your team who put on the fantastic event at 美姬阁. The pupils were ‘buzzing’ on the coach home, talking about their favourite parts of the day. I hope it goes some way to inspiring pupils to consider science or engineering careers one day.

“The gifts for the poster competition were extremely generous and the pupils were thrilled. We also understand and can fully appreciate the effort it has taken to put on this programme over the course of the year and we want to congratulate you on the success of the programme.”