Jackie Gorman and Pauline Nally of Midlands Science at the Exploring Engineering day in association with the Medtronic Foundation, which was held in Athlone last week as part of Engineers Week.

Exploring engineering and making science more accessible

Engineers Week took place all over Ireland last week and it included a number of activities in the midlands with Midlands Science.

One of the week’s highlights was an Exploring Engineering Day which took place in the Athlone Education Centre in partnership with the Medtronic Foundation. This day brought together a number of student groups from secondary schools and primary schools from across the midlands, where they learnt about what it is like to work as an engineer and undertook a number of hands on engineering activities with local Medtronic employee volunteers. They also enjoyed the engineering movie “Dream Big”, narrated by the aptly named Jeff Bridges!

The Medtronic Foundation partners to improve lives for under-served and underrepresented populations worldwide, and support communities where Medtronic employees live and give.

“Our partnership with Midlands Science is about more than education—it’s about creating pathways for future STEM leaders, especially for students who wouldn’t typically have the opportunity,” said Heidi Jedlicka Halvarson, senior program manager, Medtronic Foundation.

Jackie Gorman of Midlands Science commented: “We are very pleased again this year through support from the Medtronic Foundation to run this event during Engineers Week, groups of students at primary and secondary level were afforded the opportunity to explore the creative world of engineering and the limitless opportunities a career in the sector can offer.

“They also got to meet with local Medtronic employee volunteers and through hands on activities, they could see that engineers are very creative problem solvers.

“The more we can encourage people to see the problem-solving and creativity at the heart of engineering, the more impact we can have in creating the amazing engineers of the future.”

Meanwhile, Midlands Science and Medtronic Foundation also partnered in a best practice event exploring the work of Midlands Science in making science more accessible, which was held in the Conway Institute, UCD in association with University College Dublin.

Many people find science interesting and engaging and others find it difficult and challenging to engage with topics which involve science.

This reluctance comes from a variety of different reasons, ranging from the language used to the style of communication used by people who talk about science. A wide range of people from industry, research and education attended this event and learnt more about ways to make their science outreach more impactful in terms of reaching those least likely to engage with science.

In addition to providing science outreach for a range of communities, Midlands Science has been working over the past year with a range of stakeholders to find ways to make science more accessible for everyone. This work involved producing a guide addressing issues such as Plain English Use and Storytelling and a range of other topics. Some 2,000 copies of the guide have been distributed to date and it has been the focus of a presentation at EUSEA, the European Association for Public Engagement with Science and at the Oireachtas Science and Technology Group.

More information on www.midlandsscience.ie