As a major employer in Llanelli, Schaeffler UK is continually investing in its people and working closely with the local community. A key part of this commitment is supporting the local college in helping to change young peoples’ negative perceptions of engineering.

“During the last 30 years, we’ve developed a very close working partnership with our local college, Coleg Sir Gar, which has played a significant role in our successful engineering apprenticeship schemes and in helping us to change local school pupils’ perceptions of engineering.” says Donna Williams-Bevan, Training Officer at automotive component manufacturer Schaeffler (UK) Ltd. “We view these pupils as potential future engineers for our Llanelli plant or as future leaders of our business. So the time and resources that we commit every year will reap their rewards in the long term.”

Established in 1955, the Schaeffler plant in Llanelli manufactures high precision engine components for the automotive market. The plant currently employs 250 people and is an autonomous subsidiary of the multi-national, German-owned Schaeffler Group. The plant employs seven engineering apprentices and one graduate trainee. Two of the apprentices work in the toolroom, the other five in maintenance and production. In 2011, four new apprentices were recruited.

Schaeffler’s strong links with Coleg Sir Gar are vital in maintaining the plant’s pool of engineering talent, says Williams-Bevan. Coleg Sir Gar is one of the largest Further Education Colleges in Wales, with more than 9,000 students enrolled on various courses ranging from Mechanical Engineering to Performing Arts.

Adam Twells, Head of Engineering at Coleg Sir Gar comments: “The Engineering School at Coleg Sir Gar has around 200 full time students and 300 part time students. The courses we run include mechanical and electrical engineering, electronics, welding, maintenance and automotive engineering, from level 1 to Honours Degree. Our aim is to provide engineering courses and apprenticeship training that matches the needs of local businesses such as Schaeffler.”

The working relationship between Schaeffler and Coleg Sir Gar is mutually beneficial. As well as offering work experience placements for Coleg Sir Gar engineering students, Schaeffler also supports many local engineering initiatives held at the college and organises its own ‘open days’ at the factory. In November 2011, for example, Schaeffler held a ‘See Inside Manufacturing’ open day, where more than 60 local school children visited the plant for a guided tour, presentations from senior management and an engineering challenge.

Coleg Sir Gar supports Schaeffler and other local companies by offering relevant courses matched to their needs, as well as more specific, tailored training courses if required.

Both Schaeffler and Coleg Sir Gar are also particularly keen to change the negative perceptions that many young people have of working in engineering. As Adam Twells puts it: “In other European countries such as Germany, engineering is well respected as a profession, but here it seems that engineering is deemed as not being a worthy career choice. But engineers work in highly technological areas, and so in my opinion, they should be comparable to say a doctor or a lawyer.”

The key to changing these negative perceptions, says Adam Twells, is to target primary school children first. “That is where the misconceptions begin and where we can have the most influence.”

He continues: “We are therefore working with local primary schools, in particular targeting 9 to 11 year-olds and talking to them about what it is like to work in engineering. We are trying our best to educate parents, teachers and careers advisors, who may have negative views about working in engineering.”

Schaeffler is also trying to influence the same age group. Recently, Schaeffler Llanelli organised an engineering challenge for 11-year-olds from Penyrheol Primary School in Llanelli. More than 30 pupils took part in the challenge, which was a variation of the Young Engineers’ Egg Challenge. The aim was to design and build a system that allowed the safe transportation of two eggs across chasms and cliff faces without damaging the eggs, using only limited items to create the mechanisms.

The project took place over a number of weeks. The children were split into six groups and final entries were judged by a panel including Kate Hartigan, Managing Director at Schaeffler UK, Roger Evans, Plant Director, Adrian Roberts, HR Director, and a School Governor.

In terms of learning, the school commented that the challenge “not only gave the pupils a greater understanding of mechanisms and mechanics”, but had also “helped the pupils grow their social skills too, by working together as a team and collectively towards a common goal”.

Graham Griffiths, South Wales Regional Director, EESW (Engineering Education Scheme Wales), who also attended the egg challenge commented: “The engineering project with Penyrheol school was a resounding success. The children modelled their innovative solutions and were able to discuss why they chose the designs they prototyped. They were also able to discuss how problems could be solved and the solutions improved. The learning undertaken was centred on mathematics, science and design technology, but through working on their projects they also improved their communication skills significantly, discussing their ideas with fellow pupils, teachers and with visiting adults.”

“The project provided the pupils with a good insight into the way engineers work, which will hopefully open their minds to the educational and career opportunities available.”

Influencing secondary school pupils

Secondary schools are a key age group that needs influencing too. Adam Twells agrees: “Coleg Sir Gar holds regular engineering open days for secondary school pupils, as well as engineering challenges and competitions. However, in my experience, most 13-15 year olds tend to have already made up their minds about which career path they want to follow. This is why the college has started to focus more effort on the local primary school children.”

Whilst Twells also concedes that not enough girls are being attracted into engineering, he points out that it is finding the right calibre of student that is more important here, not whether they are male or female. “The real problem we have here in Camarthenshire, and elsewhere in the UK too, is how to attract more higher calibre students into engineering. Those that are enrolling on our engineering courses here are generally those who have struggled to attain five GCSEs. To put it bluntly, it seems that the brighter students are going elsewhere and not into engineering.”

Engineering Week Wales

One event that has been hugely successful in changing Year 9 pupils’ negative perception of engineering is Engineering Week Wales (EWW).

Established in 2005 by CollegesWales, EWW is a result of further education colleges’ enthusiasm to demonstrate the excellent career opportunities that engineering provides the highest achievers. Every year in November, EWW gives Year 9 pupils (13-14 year olds) hands-on engineering experiences at further education colleges across Wales. Both boys and girls are encouraged to take part, with some centres organising girl-only days. Each centre also hosts an engineering design challenge. More than 1,000 pupils each year take part in the activities, which range from aeronautics and automotive, to electronics, manufacturing and mechanical engineering. Key supporters of EWW include the Sector Skills Council (SEMTA), Engineering UK, City & Guilds and Careers Wales.

Coleg Sir Gar and Schaeffler are both keen supporters of EWW. In November 2011, Coleg Sir Gar, supported by engineering apprentices from Schaeffler Llanelli, held its annual EWW Hovercraft Challenge for local schools. The challenge this year was to design and build a hovercraft and then race these.

As Twells states: “Almost every local secondary school took part in 2011 with more than 80 pupils attending. The aim of the challenge is to try to influence the pupils just before they take their GCSE options and in this respect, the event was a resounding success.”

For more information, please call Schaeffler UK’s Marketing Department on 0121 313 5870. Alternatively, email info.uk@schaeffler.com.

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