Cranfield's Watch it Made wins RAEng funding
The RAEng Ingenious projects are finding new and creative ways to engage the public – whether student, family, or adult-audiences – with engineering. Cranfield is one of 22 new schemes to be awarded funding this year.
The concept behind Watch it Made® is to enthuse school-age children about science and engineering by designing and manufacturing something that really works and they can keep. Funded by the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Ultra Precision, which is led by Cranfield University, the scheme enables pupils to design and manufacture a personalised wrist watch.
Professor Paul Shore, Head of Ultra Precision Engineering said: “We are delighted to receive the funding and acknowledgment from RAEng. It will allow this educational outreach project to see 500 children benefit from the WiM scheme this year.”
Housed in a dedicated manufacturing learning studio on the Cranfield campus, the children spend time choosing the design of their watch face dial and see how it is printed using UV ink jet technology. They then get hands-on experience mounting their watch case in a precision lathe, operating it and seeing their watch body machined. They can then personalise the back casing of their watch using a micro-milling process. Finally, the children assemble all of their manufactured watch components, together with some pre-supplied parts such as the hands, watch glass and strap. At the end, all leave with their own personalised timepiece.
The idea was originally dreamt up by Cranfield staff who wished to create an engineering activity that would make young learners experience the ‘pride of producing’ that engineering offers, and to engage them with science, technology, engineering and mathematical subjects prior to their GCSE subject selections.
WiM’s long-term goal is to enable all 650,000 12-year-olds in the UK to experience creating a high-quality, engineered product and provide an opportunity to interact with engineers, ask questions and share their views.