More than 100 school-girls from around the Sheffield City Region have been shown the huge potential of a career in engineering by the campaign — launched earlier this year by the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC)(www.amrc.co.uk).

Fifty-four pupils from schools in Sheffield, Rotherham and Barnsley were invited to the AMRC last month for the latest event of a programme that aims to inspire young girls to pursue a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).

Attracting more women into engineering is one of the most serious challenges facing the industry, and a large part of is to create a supportive network for teenagers to talk openly about their interest in STEM subjects and STEM-related careers.

An exclusive social media group provides a safe environment for young women to talk in confidence to like-minded peers who may attend different schools.

Ami Swales, the AMRC’s STEM and out-reach co-ordinator, said: “We want to connect young girls from the Sheffield City Region, so they feel they are not isolated.

“They may be the only one in their friendship group that is interested in engineering, but with , they can meet other people who have similar interests, and it might empower them to pursue that career.”

After tours of the AMRC Training Centre, the Design and Prototyping Centre, the Factory of the Future, the Nuclear AMRC and the Manufacturing Transporter, the girls worked in teams to build a model Ferris wheel with little more than paper, masking tape, string and bolts.

They also heard from Mark Wrigley, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, and Rosie Davies — a second-year apprentice machinist at Boeing Sheffield.