Pioneering engineering program gets a further £15,000 funding boost to launch three new Midlands courses inspiring young people to explore the world of STEM education.
STEM Venturi, which operates across the UK with bases in Staffordshire and South Derbyshire, is unveiling its new EngineerED Labs program this month thanks to funding from the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation.
The courses offer a fully funded interactive six-week programme of engineering and technology learning for neurodivergent home educated young people aged 11-16. Participants will tackle hands-on projects including electronics, produce design, CAD modelling, coding and rapid prototyping, following the engineering process of design, build, test and improve.
STEM Venturi is now looking to build collaborations with engineering companies, manufacturers and technology organisations interested in sponsoring future labs, providing industry expertise or helping expand the program into new communities.
Former aerospace engineer, Holly Davies who founded STEM Venturi to provide a variety of engineering led opportunities for young people, said: “I am excited to launch EngineerEd Labs for home education. The skills children learn from designing, making and testing projects are transferable across all industries. They build confidence, resilience, teamwork and problem-solving abilities.
“Around 175,000 young people are home educated in the UK every year. Engineering and STEM activities are starting to filter into mainstream schools, but home educated young people still don’t get the same level of opportunities. EngineerEd Labs will help to break this cycle, and we are excited to be offering it in even more locations.
“The aim will then be to roll the program out more widely to help as many young people to think differently and have access to engineering style learning.”
The launch of EngineerED follows a successful pilot in Coventry earlier this year which supported 50 young people through hands-on engineering projects, including designing and prototyping custom skateboard decks using CAD software and 3D printing technology. The pilot also received funding from the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation.
EngineerED Labs will now open in Ashbourne in September with further courses in Belper and Hilton in November.
Teula Bradshaw, CEO of the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation (SMF), said: “We are delighted to continue supporting STEM Venturi following the success of the Coventry pilot. Holly’s work aligns perfectly with our mission to help those with neurodivergent minds recognise their talents through engineering and making, and this partnership allows the SMF to reach more of the young people who need our support the most.
“As EngineerED Labs expands across the Midlands, we look forward to many more young people discovering where their skills and ideas could take them.”
Holly is working with other funding streams and engineering businesses to look at how the scheme can be replicated to make it more widely accessible across the Midlands helping bridge the skills shortfall.
She said: “In the UK we continue to suffer from an engineering shortfall with young people not having access to the tech and training needed to show them opportunities in the industry.
“EngineerED Labs offers the potential to create industry specific training for young people helping them to learn new skills and look at what a career in engineering could look like for them. We are so excited to have this second round of funding from the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation to continue our original pilot project and launch the programme. It is now important that we can connect and look at how this can continue to grow and support our engineers of the future.”
Each course will support up to 15 young people in small groups and offer a variety of project-based engineering skills. For more information or to support the programme please contact Holly at info@stemventuri.org or visit www.stemventuri.org
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