A group of year 9 students have been working hard as part of their Go4Set STEM project to design an eco-friendly hotel. Ahead of their competition next week, mentor Matt organised a workplace visit so we could see how traditional construction methods are being transformed into a more modern assembly process. We visited the Explore Manufacturing site, part of Laing O’Rouke.
We began the afternoon in the board room – our students were right at home there! We heard about the work Laing O’Rouke have done, working on schools, hospitals, airports, the Leadenhall building, the Olympic village… the list was extensive and very impressive. The Explore Manufacturing site is expanding in the next year to continue their work on developing prefabricated housing. Our students asked some insightful questions about how this would work, considering the advantages and pitfalls.
It was great to hear about all the different routes into a career in Engineering, and all the jobs that fall within that profession. Lewis and Tyler were choosing their office after hearing about Laing O’Rouke’s cadet and post-graduate schemes – they were totally sold on the BMW you get as part of the package!
We donned our safety gear ready for a tour of the factory where we saw the automated processes we’d heard all about in action. It was amazing to see. Dan, our guide, then gave us the chance to look around the ‘show home’; the house built to showcase the prefabricated designs Laing O’Rouke have developed. The students were given the chance to run all around the house and were ready to move in by the end!
Thank you to Matt for organising the visit, and Laing O’Rouke for being so welcoming. Our students were totally inspired and can’t wait to apply for a work experience placement soon.
