Derby Museums and Rolls-Royce team up for British Science Week to promote new career pathways in science and industry

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Main image: Rolls-Royce NDT Degree Apprentices, James Barnett and Freya Bexon, demonstrate equipment used to measure electrical resistance

A series of pioneering school sessions, devised by Derby Museums and Rolls-Royce for British Science Week, will take place at the Museum of Making this week, giving students an exclusive insight into the potential of a Derby career in science and industry.

The series of interactive sessions, known as Making Futures…, will introduce secondary school students to some of the lesser-known fields of Derby industry and aim to raise awareness of these as potential new career pathways. They will also introduce Degree Apprenticeships with Rolls-Royce, an opportunity available to students beyond A-Level.

Image above: Rolls-Royce NDT Degree Apprentices, Ted Larkin and Will Haywood, with a magnetic field visualisation

The first four sessions, which take place on 15th and 16th March, will focus on Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and The Science of Safety with students exploring how scientific principles including sound waves, capillary action and electrical current are used in industry testing techniques today.

Andrea Mercer, Head of Learning at Derby Museums, said:

“As part of Derby Museums’ Institute of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) programme, these inspiring, hands-on sessions offer young people a unique opportunity to de-mystify the making and testing of a jet engine and to gain insight about some of the different STEAM career pathways available to them in Derby.”

“We have been overwhelmed by the interest in this programme from local schools, and we are delighted that we can offer this opportunity to so many young people in Derby. We are looking forward to welcoming over 250 students across the two days from local secondary schools and the University Technical College (UCT) at Pride Park.”

During the sessions, students will carry out real-life experiments based on testing techniques around the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 aero engine, suspended in the Museum of Making. They will hear from Rolls-Royce apprentices and industry specialists with advice given about how to develop their own careers.

Gill Fennell, Community Investment Manager at Rolls-Royce, said:

“We are delighted to bring these new secondary school sessions to Derby in partnership with Derby Museums. There are many great career opportunities available in Derby for young people interested in STEAM, and these sessions aim to make them more accessible.”

“Our Degree Apprentices are really keen to raise awareness about Non-Destructive Testing and share their experience with students facing choices over which subjects to study at GCSE. Students will be able to meet specialists in the field, ask what subjects are needed at GCSE, and talk to young people about their journeys into Degree Apprenticeships.”

Freya Bexon, a Rolls-Royce NDT Degree Apprentice who will be helping to run the sessions, said:

“My Degree Apprenticeship has given me the opportunity to explore different career paths that I might not otherwise have considered. It’s about what Rolls-Royce does on a bigger scale – we don’t just create an engine, it’s being able to see all of the different roles that go into testing an engine and the experience you get can also be applied to other careers.”

“With a Degree Apprenticeship, not only do I get my degree paid for by Rolls-Royce, I also get training in the industry for four years. Compared to a graduate, on the day I finish my Apprenticeship, I’ll already know how a company works, I’ll be one step ahead already.”

The Making Futures… sessions will take place on 15th and 16th March at the Museum of Making as part of British Science Week (11-20 March 2022), a ten-day programme of thousands of events running throughout the whole of the UK with the aim of celebrating science, engineering, technology and maths.

In partnership with Rolls-Royce, Derby Museums plans to deliver similar career-based sessions for schools later in the year with more details to be announced soon. More information about Derby Museums’ learning offer and The Institute of STEAM can be found here.