A-Level engineering students visit North West company Leyland Trucks to support their studies on the ‘Role of Engineering’.
Eight students, who are the first to start Carr Hill Sixth Form’s new Applied A Level in Engineering, spent the day with industry experts. This, alongside classroom learnings, will help the pupils produce a series of assignments based on the roles of Engineers.
The students’ trip to one of Britain’s leading manufacturing companies consisted of a customised tour of the business designed to cover specific information Carr Hill pupils needed to know for their assignments.
During the trip students were shown how a truck is assembled on a production line, they also learnt how technology has replaced many traditional engineering practices including drawings, as now operators use a touch screen monitor to access interactive work instructions about their tasks. Students saw first-hand how advanced and interactive the tools for engineering have become and how technology is used to ensure an efficient high quality process throughout.
Pupils were also shown the design office and learnt how the latest technology, Computer Aided Design, is used to model parts in 3D and then how Computer Aided Engineering simulation software is used to test the parts before they are built. The final section of the tour offered students the chance to take part in a design review of the assembly process using the latest technology of 3D projection to view the product.
Matthew was one of the students to attend the trip. He said: “If we haven’t been on the trip I think we would struggle to complete the unit. It helped to see things you need to learn about in reality rather than learning from the internet.”
Fellow student James said: “It was useful to know the facts and figures about how things are made. It is such a big industry and you don’t realise that until you visit a working business.”
Mrs Dandy organised the trip. She said: “Classroom learning is very important, but trips to industry help to put learning into context. Leyland trucks is very supportive of education and helping to develop the next generation of engineers.
“As well as taking a tour and seeing how engineering practices look in a working company today the students were also able to talk to different engineers and discuss career paths into engineering by both apprenticeship and graduate routes, and also opportunities for future development once employed in the industry. The staff help to show how attractive and rewarding a career in engineering could be.”
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