Menu
The potential for the IoT to forge rewarding careers is inspiring not just students, but staff too.
At the IoT’s Preston College site, teaching staff in the state-of-the-art iSTEM talk passionately about the courses on offer, and they sparks of inspiration they see when learning comes alive.
Robyn Halford, quality practitioner for the iSTEM, said the new equipment in the advanced manufacturing facility is truly opening learners’ eyes to the possibilities open to them.
“Many of our students have gone out and bought their own 3D printers because they’ve used the IoT printers and been so inspired to do their own projects at home,” she said. “Groups of them got together, asked us for advice and worked out the best way to buy their own – that speaks volumes about the impact the IoT is having.
“It’s stimulating them to spend their own money and invest in their own skills. One student went off and made a mask for his younger brother – that’s taking learning beyond the classroom and is a real positive.”
Projects created using the 3D printers and software packages in the iSTEM have included designing and producing litter pickers for the elderly.
“It’s something that would have been tricky to produce using lathes and completed within one session, but with the 3D printers and CAD software they can finish in one go,” said Philip Shea, engineering lecturer. “What they’re doing might be fun, but they don’t realise they’re learning techniques in modelling, planning and printing that are used in the industry. What they produce might not work every time, but they’re learning from that, and they all feed off each other because they’re so enthusiastic about what they’re doing.”