Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) has sponsored and mentored high school pupils taking part in a science and engineering competition in Scotland.
Pupils from Trinity High School in Rutherglen were sponsored by BBES' Projects division for the Go4SET (Go for Science, Engineering and Technology) competition, and were mentored by project engineer Grant Barbour.
Go4SET is an initiative run by the Engineering Development Trust to stimulate interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in young adults through linking companies with schools. The companies mentor the students through a 10-week environmental challenge. Mr Barbour mentored the budding engineers at Trinity High as they progressed through the project and helped them research and design an environmentally-friendly classroom.
Around half of the pupils involved are already familiar with BBES having taken part in other activities run by the company whilst they were at St Columbkille's Primary School, which feeds into Trinity High.
Mr Barbour commented: 'This has been a great opportunity to reconnect with children we already know from our other school projects. I am continually amazed by the amount of information that the teams have processed over the last 10 weeks. The project was as much about communication and reporting as it was about the science. The fact that this year's project was about environmentally-friendly building and energy, has given the pupils an insight into the challenges that the construction industry faces in building sustainable projects.'
The end of the project was marked by a celebration and assessment day which was held at the University of Strathclyde where the teams presented their eco-friendly classroom designs to judges from a wide range of industries.
Hugh Gallagher, a teacher at Trinity High, said of the initiative: 'In all, 18 pupils from Trinity High benefited directly from their involvement in the project, the majority of whom should receive formal accreditation through receipt of a British Science Association Silver Crest Award. Participation in the scheme will have enhanced their creativity and innovation as well as developing their team working and problem solving skills.'