Haribos and rivets

How do we interest young people in careers in engineering, the lifeblood of the automotive and aerospace industries? One way is to take part in careers fairs, where members of the Livery can engage directly with young people at the formative stages of their education. To that end, the Company had an engaging and interesting stand at the Livery Careers Showcase held at the Guildhall on 3rd and 4th July as part of the wider London Careers Festival. The Showcase brings together many of the Livery Companies for the benefit of London schools and for the promotion of our core trades and industries. The Coachmakers has been participating in this event for a number of years, rejuvenated post-Covid.

The Showcase took place on 3rd July for junior schools and 4th July for senior schools in pre-GCSE year. This year we had a prominent stand immediately at the entrance to the magnificent Guildhall Old Library, and had two new additions to our stand to draw in and start a conversation with students.

Courtesy of Freeman Mike Malone and Senior Warden Bettine Evans, we had a small 3D printer that produced a range of fascinating objects that got many young visitors interested.

In addition, Freeman Patryk Nelkowski had produced a practical activity for the students to take part in, using a hand ‘pop’ rivetter to put rivets into a sheet of aluminium, the holes making the shape of an aircraft. This proved so popular on the first day that we had to drill the rivets out for day two.

In a new paperless world, we had business cards on the stand with the QR codes to download the Engineering Careers and Automotive Engineering Careers Guide for interested students and teachers.

Ellie Bacon, who sits on the Charity Committee and who was supported by us though her engineering degree, helped staff the stand on the first day with Freeman Nick Lyford. Steward Neil Sheath joined me on the second day, and Master Julian joined us for the afternoon. He was able to explain that the uses for 3D printers extended to printing him a new tooth. Patryk was on the stand on both days: he and Ellie, being far nearer the age of the pupils than the rest of us, were able to ‘hold court’ with many of the pupils.

The level of interest and engagement from a large proportion of the schools was encouraging. We weren’t training enough engineers when I studied, many years ago, and we still aren’t. The more of these events we can take part in, the more chance we have of triggering young people to make choices that will see engineers of the future develop and grow.

And the haribos? They were the prize for a successful riveter.