Stem Ambassador
Otto Simon Ltd • January 8, 2018
Guest Blog – Vikas Saxena BEng(Hons) MSc MIET, EC&I Engineer at Otto Simon and STEM Ambassador.
I’ve been a STEM Ambassador for the past 5 years, working with schools and education organisations to encourage enthusiasm and understanding of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, and raising an awareness of careers related to STEM.
Last November, I participated in the Loreto College Engineering & Applied Physics Speed Meet 2017. Now in its third year, this event invited fifty students from Loreto’s Sixth Form and Year 11 Students from local secondary schools across Manchester and Salford to network with engineers from a variety of STEM industries. The event comprised of two ‘speed meets’ for small groups of students to spend 5 minutes chatting with each engineer / physicist about their profession and daily job challenges. The students were then encouraged to continue discussions during networking breaks, asking us everything from types of projects we’ve worked on, to salary, typical job routines, benefits and working hours.
I was proud to participate in this event, as I believe it helps the students to analyse various options available in the job market and make an informed decision about their career. It also helps them to understand what are current challenges and requirements in certain industries so that they can align their educational path in order to suit their professional objective. It was great to see so many STEM industries represented at the event from transport and rail, to specialist equipment manufacturing, applied physics, and process, instrument and electrical engineering.
Later in the year, Otto Simon is hoping to facilitate a site visit to one of our on-going projects, aiming to inspire and engage more young people to enter the world of engineering. This technical site visit will be co-sponsored by IET. Other upcoming events I’m looking forward to being involved with for STEM are: ‘Mentor schools in the Greater Manchester Engineering Challenge’, and ‘Interview an Engineer’. Watch this space for details.
Britain has a proud engineering heritage, but there is a shortfall in qualified engineering graduates and skilled technicians. Every year there is an annual shortfall of 20,000 engineering graduates, and with only one third of parents understanding what the engineering profession is, it is up to the industry to promote STEM careers to the next generation of engineers.
2018 is officially the Year of Engineering, a year-long government campaign to support the engineering profession in recruiting the next generation of engineers. It is fantastic to see the government taking an interest in celebrating UK engineering, and as they work with industry partners, schools and families to offer young people a positive experience of engineering.
Find out more about the role of STEM Ambassadors and how you can get involved: www.stem.org.uk/stem-ambassadors
Or discover the more about the Year of Engineering 2018: www.dft.gov.uk/year-of-engineering-2018/
Back to Blog
Show More
Recent Blog Posts
Otto Simon recently attended the Hydrogen Energy Association (HEA) annual conference in Westminster, London, a key event for the hydrogen industry. The conference featured a keynote speech by Sarah Jones, UK Government Minister of State for Industry and Net Zero , highlighting the government's commitment to this crucial sector. Our team had the invaluable opportunity to hear directly from industry-leading hydrogen experts , gaining first-hand insights into the latest policies and government funding initiatives. This direct access to information is vital for staying at the forefront of hydrogen advancements. Congratulations to Clive Mansfield and Clare Dunkerley from our team, who actively participated in the networking sessions, engaging in discussions about hydrogen and safety —a critical aspect of our work. They also gathered useful information that will directly benefit our ongoing hydrogen projects.
Here at Otto Simon, we're committed to staying at the forefront of safety and compliance in Process Plant projects. That's why two of our seasoned principal engineers, Mike Wray and Mike Westerman, recently attended a crucial refresher course on machinery regulations at the HSE Science and Research Centre. In the world of Process Plant projects, it's common to encounter machinery assemblies where vendors don't provide a declaration of conformity. With the recent publication of the new EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230/EU, it's more important than ever to be on top of the latest guidelines. This ensures we can continue to offer our UK-based clients the best advice on their responsibilities and how to apply conformity assessments when machinery risks are present. This applies to both new equipment and the repurposing of existing machinery. Considering there are over 800 standards related to machinery design, our approach is meticulous. We utilise a thorough hazard identification process to carefully evaluate risks and implement best practice safety mitigations in all our designs. This proactive approach helps us ensure the highest level of safety for your projects. Please get in touch for assistance.
Prime Minister, Kier Starmer visits St Helens, Merseyside today as he paid a visit to the Glass Futures facility! The Prime Minister spoke to workers at the facility this morning, Thursday, May 29 during a visit. “Can I just start by thanking those that work here for showing me this morning what you do, showing me the skills that you have, telling me a bit about what goes on here and the incredible history. “If I’ve understood what you’ve told me glass has been made on this very site for the best part of 250 years." “I think Pilkington may have been running the business before, and we can actually just see Pilkington out there so for you to be continuing with Glass Futures, very apt name, working here is fantastic and I can see how proud you are of what you do, each of you contributing with your different skills to what is happening here." The Labour politician added: “As I’ve said many, many, times you can read a briefing in London or you can come and see the workforce and come and see the people with the real skills and understand what they’re doing and thank you for allowing me to do the second of those as I’ve got a really good sense of what you’re doing here, how you’re doing it and the incredible way you’re doing it, each of you contributing in your own way and I can see that pride.” The £54m innovative research and technology facility was opened in Peasley Cross in 2023, at the former United Glass site. The mission is to help decarbonise the global glass industry by pioneering ways of making carbon-neutral glass.