Around 20 pupils, aged between eight and 10, from The Dassett C of E Primary School, Southam, and Wheelwright Lane Primary School, Coventry, were invited to FANUC’s purpose-built facility in Ansty Park, Coventry, on 11 July to see first-hand what future careers in engineering could involve.
The children also used FANUC’s showroom to race soapbox cars that they had constructed with the help of their teachers and advisors at Primary Engineer. The cars were judged on aspects such as design and distance travelled, with the winners receiving medals and certificates from FANUC UK’s sales and marketing manager, Andrew Armstrong.
“It was great to see the children enjoying our facility and the robots on display,” he said. “They had clearly put a lot of effort into designing and building their cars and were very proud of what they had achieved.
“It’s essential that we encourage as many children as possible to consider a career in engineering. By working with Primary Engineer on events such as this one, I hope that we have demonstrated how creative and rewarding a career in engineering can be.”
FANUC’s distinctive yellow robots certainly seemed to excite the children, with the LR Mate golf-putting cell proving to be a particular favourite.
“The robots were so cool,” enthused nine-year-old Wilfred from The Dassett Primary School. “I want to be a marine biologist when I grow up, so I hope I’ll be able to use robots to discover new undersea creatures every day.”
Added nine-year-old Hazel, Wilfred’s teammate: “The robot playing golf was awesome. I want to be an actor when I’m older, but maybe the shows I’m in can use robots in the background!”
For their teacher, Rachel Williams, who is also the Science Lead at The Dassett Primary School, events such as this one provide the children with much-needed experience of what engineering and manufacturing means today.
“As a rural school, our resources are quite limited,” she said. “It’s exciting to be able to give the children the opportunity to see robots in real life, which I think has been very inspiring for them.”
Laura Frankham, events account manager at Primary Engineer, said: “Events like this one encourage children to gain more of an understanding of what it means to be an engineer. By working with parents, teachers and children, our goal is to inspire the next generation of engineers through practical, fun and collaborative programmes.”
