From 1-4 July 2008, Maame Affram and Shannon Miller, two Year 10 pupils in the Girls' Division of Bolton School, spent the week enjoying a unique learning experience at the School of Materials, University of Manchester.  The four-day Engineering Materials residential course, organised by the Smallpiece Trust in partnership with the School of Materials, was designed to give students a taste of this exciting and rapidly expanding subject which focuses directly on industrial needs.

The students spent much of the course in lab sessions learning about the fundamentals of Materials Science and the breadth of the subject.  Sessions were designed to explore not just Engineering Materials, but also looked at Biomedical Materials Science.  Working on different group tasks, students solved engineering challenges including a "Straw Towers" Construction and an Advanced Composite Beam Project.  The course also included an industrial visit to Daresbury Laboratories in Warrington, where the students saw the exciting research being done there. 

Shannon Miller said: "It was a really interesting course.  I really enjoyed looking at the materials that had been used in producing Formula 1 cars and some of the lab work.  Working in small design teams, I learnt a great deal."

Outreach Administrator for the School of Materials, Emma Lewis, stated how important events like this are for students still at school to help them make informed choices of subjects to pursue at University.  “Materials Science is a subject area which has fantastic career opportunities, but is little known amongst schoolchildren.  Engaging with these courses is a great way for our academic staff to share their enthusiasm for the subject and tell a new audience about some of their exciting research discoveries.”

As well as this, the two students developed and improved their team building, communication, time management, problem solving, planning and presentation skills, at the same time as experiencing university life.  They met new people, engaged in new challenges and - most of all - had fun whilst doing so.

Spokesperson Claire Ford from The Smallpiece Trust commented: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the University to introduce a Materials course for 14-15 year olds for the first time in Manchester.  In the future, Material Scientists will be involved in advancing more innovative and effective materials to drive technology forward.  We hope this course has inspired the students to consider their role in this challenge.”