MCS Maths Teacher Claire Lewis has been on an engineering mission this half-term, as she endeavours to learn more about the life of the subject after school. Here’s what she had to say:

‘Interest in engineering has increased steadily over the past few years at MCS. Having studied engineering myself, I have recently taken on a more formal role for engineering enrichment in school. I was granted a sabbatical this half-term to immerse myself in all things‘engineering’. My first week was spent on a STEM ‘Insight’ placement at Network Rail, where I toured around the departments of the Western Railway, including the Signaling Centre in Didcot, Crossrail in London, the Electrification Project in Swindon and Head Office in Milton Keynes. The Engineers I met all had different backgrounds covering civil, structural, environmental,mechanical, electrical and power, a surprising array of disciplines in just one company.

At Peter Brett Associates, I was reminded again of the teamwork required to deliver a project, from highways planning right through to design and build.

I had a wonderful afternoon catching up with some of our OWs who are currently studying engineering at Oxford. I was interested to find out about their university courses and sought feedback on their experience during their university preparation. After lunch in hall, I gave them a tour of the Richard Record building and they were impressed with the new facilities. Visits to Sheffield, Bath, Warwick, Cambridge and Southampton universities have also given me the chance to update my knowledge of engineering courses.

I look forward to the final week of my sabbatical and to sharing the knowledge with MCS’s engineering applicants, and to inspiring some new projects in the practical engineering club’.