Robot helps give studentsinsight to a career at sea

The Big Bang @ Solent is the south’s biggest event for young people to explore the options for an exciting career within science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

More than 1,000, 11 to 16-year-olds attended the event at The Hilton at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.

The Royal Navy took along a Lynx helicopter from HMS Sultan.

It was manned by a team of volunteers from the Defence College of Technical Training’s Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival Equipment School(RNAESS) who provided the airframe.

Chief Petty Officer Sandra Parkinson from the training design and support organisation who design and maintain courses within the school said: ‘It’s lovely to see the kids running freely around the aircraft, pressing buttons and asking lots of questions.

‘For a lot of the children they won’t have had an opportunity to get up close to a helicopter, let alone sit in one so it’s really nice.’

‘They asked about the aircraft’s capability, how fast it goes and how high it can climb.

‘A lot of them already know that the Wildcat has replaced the Lynx and they’re really keen to learn a little bit more and understand what the differences are between the two.’

Elsewhere at the event, Royal Navy participation also included reserves from HMS King Alfred who used an interactive model of a WR-21 gas turbine engine to teach students about how design and maintenance can be combined to improve an engine’s efficiency.

In addition, representatives from the Royal Navy University Technical College team were also in attendance with their robot Jack to promote UTC Portsmouth.

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