Gloucestershire-based Renishaw recently attended the South West Big Bang Fair at the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, to help inspire a new generation of engineers.

At the show, Renishaw offered careers advice and ran engineering activities for visitors to its stand.

Engineering UK set up Big Bang Fairs across the country to give students access to careers advice from local engineering companies.

Some of Renishaw’s (www.renishaw.com) science, technology, engineering and maths ambassadors — a group of apprentices, graduates and engineers that volunteer their time to promote STEM subjects and careers — attended the fair to help students and parents understand more about the sector.

Visitors had the opportunity to speak to them about the different paths into engineering, and they offered practical careers advice based on their own experiences.

Renishaw also ran two hands-on activities during the day to show visitors the creative side of engineering. Students could ride an ‘energy bike’, where they had to keep pedalling to turn on lights and see how much energy they could produce.

They also had the opportunity to make magnetic top chasers, which demonstrated some of the skills that are required in engineering.

The company also had some of its products on the stand to give students an idea of the range of careers that require engineering skills.