May 2019

| 40 | May 2019 www.smartmachinesandfactories.com | PRIMARY ENGINEER | Engineering in schools: An institutional issue I n an age of transformation that will have a dramatic effect on the future job market, the skills that best serve the future workforce are those which require a problem-finding and problem-solving approach. Primary Engineer is a leading proponent of projects that bring together industry, teachers and pupils throughout the UK, and engages with over 60,000 pupils, 3,000 teachers and 1500 engineers each year through its various programmes. The ambition to join together such programmes into a cohesive structure that allows students to continue to feed their enthusiasm for STEM related learning throughout their own education, is the final piece of the STEM puzzle which has led to the creation of two new Institutions. Launching in May 2019, the Institution of Primary Engineers and The Institution of Secondary Engineers have been a long time in research and development and signal a major turning point in the continuation of STEM development throughout school, into college, university and ultimately into the world of work. They are a modern tool, based on age-old professional membership organisations which seek to support, nurture and acknowledge best practice. Too often, children who are excited by learning engineering skills are unable to pursue them consistently With the UK facing a skills crisis, the importance of encouraging the next generation of engineers from a young age has never been more acute.