Bright young sparks visit HMS Sultan for engineering master class

Above: A group of bright young sparks from across the UK visited HMS Sultan recently for a Science and Engineering master class with the Smallpeice Trust.

The Nuclear Marine Engineering course saw 49 students take part in a series of practical workshops and lectures provided by staff from the Nuclear Systems Group of the Defence School of Marine Engineering (DSMarE), HMS Sultan.

This was in support of a wider programme of activities provided by the Royal Navy, in conjunction with leading engineering support services company Babcock and educational charity The Smallpeice Trust.

During their time within HMS Sultan, the children also took in tours of the Defence College of Technical Training’s DSMarE and the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival Equipment School (RNAESS) to look at simulators, workshops, marine diesel engines, gas turbines and naval aircraft.

The activities were part of a four-day residential course for 13 and 14 year old students, aimed at providing an insight into nuclear marine engineering. In addition, youngsters learnt all about life in the Royal Navy.

Other activities within the week included a challenge with Babcock engineers, a formal mess dinner which was held for the students within the Wardroom at HMS Excellent, visits to local attractions including Action Stations at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and the Submarine Museum, Gosport.

In addition the students got to spend several nights living on board HMS Bristol.

Ismail Tariq, Education Officer from The Smallpeice Trust said: ”One of the key objectives of the week is to widen the children’s horizon in regards to science and engineering and give them an experience which is a little different to that which they would receive in the classroom.”

“They get to visit some outstanding facilities and that is where Babcock and the Royal Navy’s support really make a difference in helping get the children really interested.”

Poppy Adams from St Gabriel's School, Newbury said: “It’s been really good, everyone has been really nice and it’s genuinely not that scary.”

“My physics teacher suggested to me that I come along and my parents both did engineering degrees.”

“I’ve been learning about how nuclear science has impacted how we make all sorts of everyday objects and it’s been really interesting.”

The Liaison Officer for the visit, Lieutenant Stu Moss said: “This has been a really good week, it’s given us a great opportunity to promote Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics and we’ve had lots of questions.”

“The children have been buzzing about what they’ve seen, so hopefully it will help encourage them in the long run.”