Preston school children showcase their engineering skills at our Celebration Event with Baxi

Primary school children from Preston taking part in the Primary Engineer Construction project have showcased and competed with their completed engineering builds at a Celebration Event at Preston College judged by Baxi engineers.

This is the second year running that Baxi, which has a manufacturing facility in Bamber Bridge, has supported the Primary Engineer programmes in the Preston area. Ten of the company’s engineers have spent the last four months working with teachers in participating primary schools as they deliver the Primary Engineer Construction project to the children.

At the Celebration Event, the participating Baxi engineers tested and judged the builds, then interviewed the children who were excited to explain the research they had carried out, the aspects of the project they liked best, and the engineering knowledge they had acquired through the process.

Aisha Siddique, a Mechanical Engineer Degree Apprentice at Baxi who was one of the judges on the day, emphasises the need to encourage an interest in engineering from the early years.

“Engineering covers such a broad area that my friends still ask me to explain what I do!” she said. “We need to educate children on what an engineer does, and the wide variety of career paths open to them from an early age. Understanding why we’ve chosen this career and bringing real-world engineering into the classroom is so valuable. The project helps to develop essential skills like visualising, creative problem-solving, testing and evaluation, improving and adapting, along with teamwork and communication – all of which come into play with engineering.”

Also taking part in the Celebration Event was the Mayor of Preston, Councillor Yakub Patel.

He said: “Engineering plays a vital role in our communities so it’s rewarding to see children showing interest from such a young age. I was delighted to see how Baxi is working with Primary Engineer to help raise awareness of engineering and the career opportunities it offers, helping to build a diverse generation of future engineers. It was also amazing to see how inspired the children were by the projects and the imagination and creativity that went into their builds.”

Nathalie Cachet-Gaujard, Head of Partnerships for North of England at Primary Engineer, said:

“It was a terrific day, seeing the children so engaged with their projects, showing off their engineering skills and taking such pride in their builds! It’s fantastic to see the schools in Preston so keen to raise awareness of engineering through this project! Industry engagement is crucial to raise awareness of the versatility of engineering and the breadth of careers available. We are delighted to partner with Baxi, their commitment and passion to help build the future generation of engineers is impressive and what a team they are!”.

To find out more about how Baxi is supporting the next generation of engineers, click here.