Engineering student presents Hydro-Paddle project to school pupils at regional award event
An Engineering student has had the chance to present his project as part of an anniversary celebration event for an engineering awards group aimed at school pupils.
MEng Computer-Aided Mechanical Engineering student Adam Carlyle had the opportunity to attend the Primary Engineers Leaders Awards, which celebrated its 10th anniversary. At the celebration, Adam presented his Hydro-Paddle project to an audience of primary and secondary school pupils to showcase how their designs came to life.
The Primary Engineers Leaders Award invites pupils from primary and secondary schools to submit their own design of a solution to a real-world problem. Once submitted, the ideas are shortlisted and the finalists are invited to attend the regional awards where their work is displayed as part of an exhibition.
Working with university partners, students and staff have the chance to create a prototype based on the winning idea. In this case, Adam presented the workings of the Hydro Paddle idea that was selected as the winner in 2019.
Speaking about the event, Adam explained that it was initially meant to be a group presentation but he had to present individually on the day. He said: “The experience was very nerve-wracking leading up to the presentation. I've never presented to anywhere near the number that were in attendance.
In the past few years, most of the presentations I had done were as part of a group and this wasn't supposed to be an exception. However, the rest of my group were unable to attend which led to me presenting the project on their behalf.”
He added: “What surprised me the most was that throughout the time I was presenting, my anxiety seemed to dissipate. I believe this was because the idea was scarier than the actual presenting. Once I was up there, presenting to a building full of people didn't feel any different than presenting to just a couple of people.”
Now looking back, Adam feels proud to have overcome his fear and feels more confident about his presenting skills going forward. He explained: “Despite the initial extreme anxiety, after having done the presentation, I felt proud of myself for being able to do such a thing.
I feel it has helped my confidence overall, as many things I used to worry about seem much less substantial in comparison now. It has proven to me that your own mind can exaggerate things, when in reality it is nowhere near as scary as you think. I now feel much more confident in my own capabilities and feel that I can accomplish much more than I previously had.”
He added: “I would highly recommend that other students in similar fields be a part of an opportunity such as this if given the chance. There are no downsides to doing something like this, other than some anxiety beforehand.
Being able to show primary school pupils that their ideas could become a reality is a very rewarding experience. The confidence boost it provides is also unmatched, because if you are able to do something like this then everything else feels all that more achievable. It also is a great addition to a CV as it gives evidence to many qualities that employers are looking for.”
By Rachael McAlonan
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