Inspiring Children with Invent Plus
A child’s dreams and ambitions are the most precious thing we can preserve and stimulate in our society. Whether they will grow up to become scientists that study the world around us, to become doctors to keep their peers healthy or become engineers to solve the problems encountered by people all around the globe — encouraging a child to fulfill their ambition is the first step to making the world of tomorrow a better place. It is discouraging that this potential is often left untapped as children and young adults do not have the full breadth of career opportunities at their disposal. The future of our communities depends on opportunities being within the reach of those who will use them to make a change in the world of tomorrow. This is at the heart of empowering a generation to shape its own future. Therefore it is our goal to nurture the dreams of as many young people as possible.
At Invent Plus we aim to achieve this by delivering hands-on experience about engineering. Through our afternoon activities at local primary schools, children learn the answers to questions like: ‘What is an engineer?’ ‘What do engineers do?’ ‘What does the daily life of a professional engineer look like?’ ‘Why do we need engineers?’ — and many more. Each one of the major engineering disciplines -aeronautical, civil, mechanical and electrical- is represented by an activity designed to make the child’s interaction with the career field memorable. There is really nothing comparable to causing a child’s eyes to light up at a newfound interest. We open the door for young minds to dream of new futures that would otherwise be lost.
Invent Plus is extremely lucky to have access to volunteers who are engineering students. It is crucial that our audience can not only relate to us, but also for them to hear from people with first-hand experience in engineering. At the same time, the program is also a great way for students to benefit from getting to know the local communities outside of the University, to connect with other students and to have a bit of fun while getting away from the stresses of University life. Working with the pupils on projects like our rubber band cars is a uniquely rewarding experience and a great counterbalance to the pressures of a student’s life.
Our teaching focus is on engineering. But our goal is to broaden the dreams and possible futures that exist in a young mind. Every time a child realises that they have found their calling, we have achieved our goal.