Student & Community Outreach
Ongoing engagement with students from primary to second level as well as the wider community is integral to the REEdI project. We are involved in a number of outreach activities throughout the year including Kerry SciFest, MTU Green Campus and I Wish. This year saw REEdI showcase at the National Ploughing Championships for the first time, we also held our inaugral summer camp for TY and fifth year students.
IWish Conference 2024
In February REEdI were proud attend the IWish Conference 2024, we were also one of circle sponsors for the event. With over 3,000 teenage girls in attendence throughout the day, it was a great opportunity to showcase the REEdI project, in particular the BEng (Hons) in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. Our Eng-E robot was a massive hit, serving ice cream to those who stopped by the stand.
Dr Fiona Boyle, Director of REEdI and Head of Department – STEM at MTU Kerry Campus, had the amazing opportunity to speak to students at the IWish Conference about her career in STEM and inspiring girls to study engineering.
Read more about the event here
National Ploughing Championships
REEdI had an amazing experience at this year’s National Ploughing Championships. We were excited to partner with Engineers Ireland to design and commission the ENG-E robot. The team had the privilege of meeting Minister Helen McEntee and speaking Minister Simon Harris during the event.
Read more about the event here
Design an Engineer Workshop
Much work has been done over the past few months to design, develop and trial the REEdI “Design an Engineer” workshop. It is proving to be both a positive learning experience and significance research activity, in the area of engineering education. From a research perspective, the workshop aims to shed light on how participants conceptualise engineering identity. As an educational experience the workshop helps to align students with the multifaceted nature of engineering professions, and seeks to instil a sense of belonging and purpose, which is crucial for academic and professional success in engineering fields. The Design an Engineer workshop exemplifies a forward-thinking approach to engineering education, by promoting the development of a professional identity.
In February we proudly facilitated the “Design an Engineer” workshop at the MTU Kerry campus for the INGENIUM University Junior Winter School. Over 50 students from 10 European universities across a wide range of disciplines joined us in an engaging session to reimagine the role of engineers in creating a socially and environmentally sustainable society.
Introduction to LEGO® Serious Play® for Learning and Development Professionals
REEdI hosted an Introduction to LEGO Serious Play workshop as part of MTU Innovation and Enterprise Month. Participants included industry learning and development professionals, teachers, and lecturers, each were awarded a digital badge to acknowledge their completion of the workshop. Their diverse perspectives enriched the conversation, which delved into the versatile applications of LEGO Serious Play in educational and professional development contexts.
LEGO Serious Play has huge potential to enable individuals, teams and organizations to unlock untapped opportunities. These workshops can be provided in-house to organisations and the REEdI team can design bespoke workshops based on the LEGO Serious Play Real Time Strategy and/or Real Time Identity methods. Find out more here
Leaving Certificate Engineering Prescribed Topic 2024
The “design, operation and technology of container ships” is the special prescribed topic for the 2024 leaving certificate engineering exam. The Rethinking Engineering Education in Ireland (REEdI) project is delighted to help students explore this topic, as container ships have captivated the minds of engineers for decades.
The team have created a specific study guide and an interactive quiz designed to allow you to test your knowledge of the topic.
Find out more here
STEPS – Engineers Ireland
REEdI were delighted to host TY Students from around the Munster Region on the Engineers Ireland STEPS Engineering Your Future Programme which took place over 3 days in May 2023. The aim of the STEPS Program is to ignite passion for engineering among 2nd second level students introducing them to engineering activities across industries and 3rd level institutes. The TY students participated in some captivating engineering events with the REEdI team which show cased cutting-edge technologies. Some of the highlights for the students over the 3 days were using the immersive technologies in the ACE Suite at MTU, a visit to local robotics design and manufacturing company REAMDA and an online presentation from Stryker.
Some of the REEdI Team are STEPS Volunteers with Engineers Ireland which involves visiting 3rd and 4th Class pupils in local primary schools and assisting them with projects for the STEPS Young Engineers Award. This is a really enjoyable activity encouraging the pupils with design ideas and problem-solving techniques to develop their projects. It is great to see such enthusiasm and excitement by the pupils as they consider engineering projects to help their local community.
Secondary Schools Roadshow in partnership with Stryker WISE
REEdI partnered with Stryker – Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) representatives during the 2023 Schools Roadshow. It was fantastic to showcase VR technology used in the REEdI students VR projects and to partner with Stryker NV to promote engineering as a career for women. It was also impactful being able to showcase the lifesaving medical devices that Stryker manufacture at their world class facilities.
“Are you REEdI for Summer” Camp
The REEdI Team were delighted to host the inaugural “Are you REEdI for Summer” Camp this week at Munster Technological University Kerry Campus. Participants in the camp were extremely engaged in the STEM activities planned by the team.
Activities included designing the ideal engineer, the math’s of bridge building, engineering a bridge, sustainability, reflection, robotics and virtual reality sessions. The group were also lucky to have Kerry Senior ladies footballer Laura Fitzgerald give a talk on being an aeronautical engineer, along with fun hands on experiments. A very successful lead into the new academic year for the REEdI Team. We are really looking forward to delivering this camp again in Summer 2024!
Kerry Science Festival
REEdI were delighted to take part in this year’s Kerry Science Festival in November 2023.The festival ran a series of captivating outreach events scattered across Kerry for the entire month, culminating in National Science Week running from November 12th to 19th. The highlight of this year’s festival was the much-anticipated STEM Showcase & Family Day.
Read more about the event here
MTU Green Campus
Some of the REEdI Team are active members of the newly formed Green Campus Team at MTU. The team participated in the Gren Campus Student Engagement Event Focused on Sustainability in November 2023. It was great to see collaboration between staff and students and lots of ideas were generated for continued sustainability initiatives on campus and with the wider community.
