Over the half term period Solihull College & University Centre’s Woodlands Campus in Smith’s Wood has welcomed a number of year 10 students who are hoping to pursue a career in the engineering industry.
Woodlands Campus is home to state-of-the-art engineering facilities including manufacturing, mechanical and electrical engineering workshops as well as a flight simulators and a former royal navy aircraft for their aerospace engineering provision.
The students, who attend a variety of schools across the region, chose to spend their week’s holiday learning more about the different routes into engineering. Whilst at the College they met with Programme Manager for Engineering at Solihull College & University Centre, Rosa Wells who was able to show the students the fantastic facilities on offer at the College.
The students spent their morning in the aircraft hangar seeing the College’s Jetstream 200 aircraft, the ALF502 Turbo-Fan Engines and other latest industry grade tools and test equipment. The students were also able to try their hand at being a pilot for the day using the College’s new facilities in the form of a flight simulator, a replica from a Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft.
The engineering teaching team at Solihull College & University Centre were also on hand to speak with the students about the potential routes into industry and course options which are available to them. The year 10 students were then able to enjoy a Computer Aided Design (CAD) workshop where they produced a 3D Star Wars logo on the software, allowing them to see how CAD works in engineering for designing aircrafts, for example.
For the final stop of the day the students from the schools were able to meet the students who currently attend the College as apprentices. The apprentices work for a number of companies such as Amey and Couch Perry Wilkes, whilst they study towards their engineering qualifications with Solihull College & University Centre. The apprentices spent time showing the aspiring engineers projects they have worked on within their companies and gave the students the chance to ask questions to those who have the experience and knowledge.
Many of the students were unaware of all of the different routes available to them when they leave school next year and that employers such as Couch Perry Wilkes and Amey would support students with their studies.
The students completed their day, feeling they had learnt a lot about the engineering industry and excited at the prospect of gaining experience within the field aiding their future careers.
For more information on the courses available at Solihull College & University Centre visit the courses page or call 0121 678 7000.
