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TechFest To Pilot Maths Into Energy Mix Workshop With Local Pupils

TechFest To Pilot Maths Into Energy Mix Workshop With Local Pupils

Workshop to address 21st-century challenges facing the energy industry

 

TechFest, supported by global technology firm Emerson, has developed a pilot workshop to introduce teenagers to mathematics for the energy transition and to demonstrate how maths can be used to assess different types of renewable energy. 

Galileo once wrote that the universe is written in the language of mathematics and a group of S3 pupils from Aberdeen will have the opportunity to experience its fundamental nature at TechFest’s first Maths into the Energy Mix event today ((Wednesday, March 29).

The programme replaces the previous Maths in the Pipeline project, having been updated to reflect the energy transition.

A total of 25 pupils from five Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire schools, including Ellon Academy, Dyce Academy, Harlaw Academy, St Margaret’s School for Girls and Albyn School, will take part in the one-day workshop, to explore how mathematics can be applied to real-life situations in the energy sector.

Yashka Smith, STEM Lead at TechFest, said: “We are excited to bring this highly relevant and newly developed version of our popular Maths into… series to North-east teenagers who we hope will be inspired to explore the vast array of career opportunities in the energy sector. 

“Recent reports suggest that to meet energy transition targets around 40,000 people are needed to fill the gaps that exist by 2030. The pupils taking part in this Maths into the Energy Mix event are the next generation to enter the workforce and they have the potential to choose a career in renewables and transition-related activities over other paths and we hope we can encourage them to do that.”

Maths underpins most of today’s energy activities including the complex task of generating, storing, and managing the distribution of new energy resources efficiently, responsibly, and safely. 

An example of a career in the rapidly changing energy sector is a renewable energy engineer. This type of engineer designs, builds, and maintains renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, wind and biomass. 

Maths is essential for this role as well as many others involved in the energy industry, such as economists, sustainability managers, mechanical engineers and analysts. 

The urgent need to decarbonise our global energy system has also created a demand for greater collaboration between mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and economists to solve the modern problems across the globe. 

This pilot event aims to help students see the benefit of continuing to study mathematics within the school curriculum and to understand the importance of collaborating with their peers across different specialisms. 

Pupils will have an opportunity to work as part of a team as they complete a series of mathematical challenges, which cumulates in the pupils generating an energy plan for a local village.  

They will need to consider both renewable and non-renewable energy sources, and think about the practical context of fulfilling the energy requirement of a community.   

Fiona Butters, field sales engineer at Emerson, said: “We are thrilled to be delivering this new Maths Into The Energy Mix workshop after the success of the previous Maths Into The Pipeline.  

“It is a privilege to play even a tiny part in these pupils’ education.  I hope that my colleagues and I will encourage them to look to their futures and understand how their education today equips them so they can participate and influence the decarbonisation of the world.  To give them a lightbulb moment so they see how important their contribution really is.”

The day will provide a chance for pupils to see the application of what they do in the classroom and how it translates in industry as well as an opportunity to meet professionals from within the sector.

TechFest is an Aberdeen-based charity which aims to engage young people in the four main STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and encourage them to go on to follow a career which utilises these skills by demonstrating that they are both fun and relevant in day-to-day life.  

For more information on TechFest, visit www.techfest.org.uk

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE

Published: 29-03-2023

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