As part of the GDST’s focus on Sustainability and its Energy Programme, our fifteen Eco Prefects were invited to a fascinating day at UCL Mechspace, a dedicated and well-equipped space for students of UCL Mechanical Engineering to design and develop engineering prototypes. 

Here our students learnt about sustainability within the different facets of Physics and Engineering - from cardiovascular stents to sustainable nappies; and participated in a range of workshops with expert speakers (including meeting F1 engineer Phil Sessions) and UCL students, posing some very interesting questions and taking full advantage of workshops targeted specifically at women in engineering. 

Elizabeth in Year 8 shares her view of the day: 

“I walked in thinking that the sustainable engineering workshop was just going to be about making electric cars – but this workshop showed me about all the many different branches that stem from engineering, from investigating different sustainable materials and designing things with multiple purposes, to designing stents for cardiovascular diseases, which save lives! One of my favourite was sustainable infrastructure, which can have a huge positive impact on people lives by doing something as simple as changing a lock on a toilet door for girls to feel more comfortable at school.  

“I enjoyed how this workshop was targeted at women in engineering, who in the past haven’t ever thought they could be engineers. This workshop made me know that I could be an engineer if I wanted to.”