
Our year 12 Engineering learners were invited to the Institute of Lighting Professionals Centenary Lighting Summit – a landmark event celebrating 100 years of innovation in the lighting profession – in preparation for Unit 10: Computer Aided Design and Unit 17 Computer Aided Manurfacturing on the Engineering Design and Manufacture course. As well as this visit supporting learners with these units, they also had the chance to gain insight into this unique industry which has many engineering vocational opportunities.
Thanks to this event, our engineering learners were given the opportunity to broaden their understanding of the varied avenues engineering can take you in.
The highlight of the summit was the networking event where different lighting companies set up stalls to showcase the work they do in the industry. The learners were given a questionnaire to fill out, encouraging them to explore specific topics related to design, manufacturing, quality control and marketing to deepen their understanding as to how these key curriculum areas relate to each other, when applied in an industry context. Through this activity, learners found out about different companies, had technical discussions and meaningful conversations, offering them the perfect professional perspective to introduce them to topics related to the units 10 and 17.
“It was a very enlightening day! We were able to talk with so many different companies. It was particularly interesting hearing about how they market and manufacture different products that were all really innovative,” Corina, year 12 learner.
To top off an amazing event, learners had the opportunity to hear from Perry, President of ILP, and Tom, a UTC apprentice alumnus who now works as an engineer in the lighting industry. Perry spoke passionately about the industry and shared all the opportunities for advancement within it for our aspiring engineers. Tom shared how UTCs can open doors to a range of industries and spoke about how his experience of apprenticeships has led him to where he is today. It was invaluable for our learners to hear these two perspectives of professionals at different stages of their engineering career pathway.
“This trip was a fantastic opportunity that was a completely different experience for our learners. Thanks to The ILP for allowing us to be a part of it and organising activities catered to our learners’ introduction into this vibrant industry,” Mark, Head of Engineering.