Brownie group earns badge of engineering at Renishaw

The Brownie group leader collaborated with Renishaw to give the members a project to design and engineer their own name badges for their uniforms with the girls taking part in three sessions to earn their badge.

In the first session, the Brownies designed their name badges by hand, to include their name and the brownie logo.

The following week, Renishaw gave the girls a tour of the factory and they transferred their image from paper to digital format using computer aided design (CAD). The girls saw the first of their designs realised on the 3D printer.

In the final session, Sarah Lewis, fabrication development centre (FDC) tutor at Renishaw’s Miskin site, visited the brownie group to deliver the finished pin badges for their uniforms.

Explains Renishaw education liaison officer Simon Biggs: “It is a common misconception that engineers are predominantly boys. By getting girls interested in engineering during extra-curricular activities we hope to get them thinking about the opportunities available in engineering careers.

“Other groups are approaching us asking how they can get a new badge in engineering. The prospect of competition has encouraged more groups to ask for sessions at Renishaw, supporting our aim to get more children excited about engineering.”

Adds 1^st Llanharan Brownie leader Steph Horsley: "The Brownies were extremely grateful for the opportunity to experience something new and exciting. It is a fantastic resource and to be able to try things that we cannot do in our own units is essential to developing the girls and hopefully inspiring them for the future. We thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Renishaw’s education outreach programme aims to promote engineering career opportunities to young children. Over the last year, it has held work experience days, education days with the Bloodhound Supersonic Car and other activities to inspire the engineers of the future.