RAF Air Marshal Julian Young was guest of honour at the Scottish Robotic Games at Leonardo Crewe Toll last weekend. Hundreds of school children and air cadets from across Scotland attended the event.
The games were introduced to encourage children and young people to take an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.
Leonardo (formerly Ferranti) donates robot kits to the children and gives them instruction on how to build them, and their participation in the programme culminates in the games with activities such as a robotic football tournament, robot tug of war and sumo.
Leonardo were delighted to welcome Air Marshal Julian Young’s to Leonardo’s Scottish Robotic Games in Edinburgh, particularly given that this year marks the 100th year of the RAF and the 75th anniversary of the Crewe Toll site which was first built in 1943 to build gun sights for the Spitfire.
AM Young had some fascinating things to say about the importance of STEM education:
Air Marshall Young had some fascinating things to say about the importance of STEM education:
“The bottom line is, our future is all about technology. It is about grasping technology and using it to make our world a better place. The only way we can do that is by understanding technology, developing it further and exploiting it, and that is why we need more engineers and technicians”, he told attendees.
“At present, our colleges and universities aren’t graduating enough of them by tens of thousands each year. If we add the Brexit dimension, then the chances are it is going to be even more difficult as we won’t necessarily be bringing in people from Europe to work alongside us, so the future is in our hands.
“We have got to inspire our youngsters across the UK to be interested in technology and to be curious about how things work, in particular our girls and young women, because there are not enough. It is not that women make better engineers per se, it is just that we need more people taking up the subject; it is as simple as that, it is about the numbers.
“I find events such as this truly inspiring, because people are grasping that nettle, showcasing technology, bringing in youngsters and inspiring them to want to be part of this world.
“When we look at the overall STEM activity within the Defence Sector, it is not about competition, it is about getting more youngsters interested in STEM topics, from which we can all recruit from a larger pool.
“We can all work together in the future, and better develop leading-edge technology for the UK’s advantage. The RAF can continue in the next 100 years being as successful as it has been through innovation, ingenuity and good engineering and technology, as it has done in the past, is now and will into the future. Working with industry partners like Leonardo is a great thing. Through STEM activity we can bring a lot more energy, a lot more focus into what we do, because we all need to work together to safeguard our future.”
Pictures:
TOP Air Marshall Young with Roger Hill (left) and Peter Bennett (right), founders of the Rampaging Chariots Guild.
ABOVE Air Marshall Young with with ATC Squadrons:287, 859, 870, 1192, 1296 and 2311.
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