Student-led, Employer-focused Extra-curricular Activities

"Employers particularly value graduates who have combined their academic study with relevant activities above and beyond the assessed components of degrees ("student-led activity"), recognising in particular the experience gained and the motivation and dedication demonstrated by these students."

The engCETL offered £1000 to Loughborough University students (from Engineering, Materials, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics) to pump-prime student-led extra-curricular, employer-focused activities, the aim being to develop the employability skills of future science and engineering employees.

This provided opportunity for students to get involved in something that:

demonstrates motivation and dedication to a future employer;
will lead to the implementation of an employer-focused activity within the student's department, which the student will have instigated and led. (Providing excellent experience).
will enable the student and others in their department to benefit from an employer-focused activity. (Providing relevant experience for the lead student and their fellow students).

The following Student-led, employer-focused activities have been funded.

Engineers without Borders
Industrial trips for Chemical Engineers
National Space Centre - Mars Aerobot Project
EcoFuture: an energy saving challenge

Show-casing and extending student-led, employer-focused extra-curricular activity in STEM

Further funding has been obtained from the National Higher Education STEM Programme to host two 1-day conferences, one in London and one in Loughborough. This is a joint initiative between Imperial College London and Loughborough University.

Both conferences will be student-led and showcase the student-led activities; there will also be academic-focused sessions, which will offer advice to staff who are interested in implementing a similar activity at their home institution. Dissemination will be via student-produced conference proceedings.

The Symposium at Imperial College London will be held on Saturday 5^th March 2011

The Conference at Loughborough University will take place on Tuesday 28^th June 2011

Be inspired. See the table below for what students do in other universities and to see ideas that Loughborough University students have already suggested.

The call for bid proposals has now closed.

This work forms part of a STEM Project. For more information on the project's aims and timetable please see Project Information

A Skype 'Discovery' Conference was held on 15th December 2010 with staff and students from Loughborough University and Imperial College London.

Activity	Brief Outline	Ideas for Loughborough
Engineers without Borders	Originally set up by students in 2001, this Charity helps engineering students to tackle poverty overseas by setting up development engineering projects, giving students valuable experience in managing such projects. http://www.profeng.com/archive/2010/2306/23060054.htm - Article on the projects that students/undergraduates have managed overseas. http://www.ewb-uk.org/ - Charity’s Homepage	Newly set up with intial funding from the STEM Project, students can get involved in the Loughborough branch and its activities.
Subject Specific Society	Such a society could organise a variety of employer linked activities including site visits, and guest speakers. One example is http://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/clubs-and-societies/a-to-z/c/civil-engineering/ - Civil Engineering Society at Imperial College Student Union. The society organises visits to engineering companies and sites; invites top engineers to give professional lectures; and an annual European tour to explore engineering practices outside the UK.	Through the Student Union, students could set up either a departmental society e.g. Civil Engineering Society or a subject society e.g. a Physics society.
British Science Association	This society is concerned with inspiring young people and adults with science and technology and its implications. The charity organises national initiatives, including British Science Festival, National Science and Engineering Week as well as local events. It also has a programme for young people in schools and colleges Students from the University of Leeds get involved in their local branch via their departmental engineering society. http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/AboutUs/Volunteering/ - British Science Association website http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/RegionsandBranches/BranchActivityInYourArea/Midlands/index.htm - Regional branches of the Association	Loughborough students could get involved in the activities of the Leicester Branch
Local Heritage Volunteering Project	Derby University arranges extracurricular projects for students to undertake with local heritage projects where engineering equipment needs to be maintained. These projects have been organised with the local steam railway, and Mill Museums. http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council-services/lc/leicester-city-museums/museums/abbey-pumping-station/ - Web page for the Abbey Pumping Station in Leicester http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/ - Great Central Railway website	Maintenance activities/projects could be undertaken with local engineering heritage projects such as the Great Central Railway, or Abbey Pumping Station.
National Physics Laboratory – Water Rocket Challenge	This annual event requires teams of participants to build and fire water rockets with teams competing on both landing accuracy and time of flight. http://www.npl.co.uk/educate-explore/water-rocket-challenge/ - Water Rocket Challenge web page	Students could enter a team to this challenge, perhaps with company sponsorship. Alternatively students could set up an inter-university challenge – ideas for this could be a water rocket challenge or robot wars style challenge. Again this could be done with company sponsorship.
National Space Centre	The National Space Centre in Leicester is interested in working with students to develop a new exhibit. The Space Centre would like to develop an 'aerobot' for the Mars Simulation exhibit. This could involve various challenges in designing the concept, and then possibly even developing and testing the aerobot.	With the Space Centre Contact provided through the STEM project students could look at the best way of setting up and running this type of activity.
Extra Curricular Industry Projects	Companies such as Rolls Royce has far more projects than it has time to do. Some of these will not be suitable as a curriculum based project but may well make an excellent extra-curricular project that would be worked on by a multi-disciplinary team with members possibly drawn from both undergraduate and postgraduate students.	Making use the STEM Project's supporting companies students could explore if companies have interesting projects available and how they could set up a sustainable group for themselves and other students to work on such projects.
STEM Student Society	Newly set up with start up funding from the STEM Project, the society: Supports students in setting up/undertaking new activities drawing on both the Student Union’s and the Society’s experience. Supports students in making company contacts Puts companies/students in contact where there are similar interests. Support students in appropriate Health and Safety/risk assessments necessary for setting up a new project. Advertises opportunities to students, partly through supporting the Loughborough Employability Award in populating a database of the types of activities/projects students can or are involved with.	If you are setting up an activity, consider if it would be beneficial for your group to join the STEM student society.
Languages	Students working together to learn a language, go on trips and gain experience within an organisation's overseas branch.	Such an activity would have to demonstrate, how it would have an employer-focused element. The STEM project supporters (academics and companies) might be able to provide links with universities overseas, advice on which language, offer visits abroad.
Outreach	The Civil Engineering faculty in the University of Rijeka, Croatia, enables their students, as part of extra curricular activities to help educate the public about sustainable development and water resource management. These activities focus on the education of pre-school children. Students organise and run workshops and develop the educational material for use in these workshops. Lancaster University students, in collaboration with the University of Rijeka, visit Croatia, and working along side Civil Engineering students from Rijeka undertake research projects in the local community. One such project was to identify current water usage habits and expected changes in these habits once the community starts to recieve its water from the main water supply system. Other possible ideas include:Leeds University Post Graduates organise a science fair for local schools to attend. Organise and help to run maths workshops for local Loughborough schools. Produce career focused science resources for schools.	Any outreach activity would need to demonstrate its the development of industry relevant skills, it's employer-focused element and show how it remain sustainable beyond its first year of funding. Also how it would make its links and how it would overcome expected hurdles.

Interested? For more information please contact Glynis G.Perkin@lboro.ac.uk

Projects undertaken as part of the engCETL STEM initiative will give students experience that will count towards the Loughborough Employability Award.

Loughborough Employability Award

You gain valuable employability skills through all the activities you do outside your degree programme, so why not have them recognised through the Loughborough Employability Award? Registration for the 2010-2011 scheme will open to first year and penultimate year undergraduate students in October 2010. You can include activities in which you have taken part since your first year and during vacations. If you complete the award, this will be recognised on your Student Transcript, alongside your degree qualification. For more information please visit the web pages at: www.careers.lboro.ac.uk/employabilityaward

This Project is supported by:

JCB, Rolls-Royce, Exxon Mobil, National Space Centre

Loughborough Student Union

Royal Academy of Engineering, Institute of Physics, Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, Royal Society of Chemistry

Imperial College London

HEA Engineering Subject Centre, East midlands STEM Hub, Loughborough University Senior Management