Engineering Technology
Related News
The sixth Perse School Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Conference 25.03.10
.JPG)
The Perse hosted the sixth annual conference on Enterprise and Entrepreneurship and was delighted to...
Perse student wins Google prize at 'Big Bang 2010' 17.03.10
.jpg)
Sixth former Will Reynolds has been exhibiting at the 'Big Bang 2010' science fair in Manchester.
Young Enterprise team Jenco wow shoppers 18.02.10
.jpg)
Entrepreneurs from The Perse wowed shoppers at the Grafton Centre with their inventive product recently...
Read all upper news >>
"The ideal engineer is a composite ... not a scientist, not a mathematician, not a sociologist or a writer but someone using the knowledge and techniques of any or all of these disciplines in solving engineering problems"
N. W. Dougherty
Department Specialist Staff
- Mr Keith Wilkin (Head of Department)
- Mr John Southworth
Aims and Philosophy
The Engineering Technology Department resides in the old Combined Cadet Force building which has undergone significant modifications over the years. There is a currently a large program to modernise the room layout and make rooms into bright, clean and high specification technology rooms. With 3 classrooms, a large workshop, nearly 30 computers with world class 3D software, a CNC lathe/mill and a laser cutter; we are well equipped to delivery fun and exciting technology to boys and girls.
The philosophy of the department is to develop students' designing and making skills using the three main materials (wood, metals and plastics) and electronics, and emphasis is put on the practical side.
We are very much specialists in Systems and Control given that the specialist teachers are Engineers with a wealth of industry electromechanical experience. Systems and Control is arguably the most academic of the Design and Technology subjects and one that is most similar to Electronic and Mechanical Engineering. We remain the only school in the region to offer this branch of D&T at 'A' level. The subject areas we cover are:
- Materials
- Structures
- Mechanisms
- Electronics
- Computer Control
- Pneumatics
Years 7, 8 and 9
Technology is compulsory in years 7, 8 and 9. All pupils in Years 7 and 8 have a 2-hour session per fortnight, in Year 9 slightly less. All practical work is taught in groups of 12. Examples of class activities are:
- 1/2 metre aluminium bridge
- Electronic light gate
- Wind turbine
- Microcontroller programming and robot control
Years 10 and 11
Instead of offering a GCSE in these years we offer the AS level in Systems and Control. This is a unique offering and we continue to be successful in attracting healthy numbers of students who enjoy and excel in the subject. A substantial part of this course is a practical project and more than 60% of classroom activity is taken up with each student progressing with their individual project. Each project allows students to interpret and demonstrate their particular talents. Examples of recent projects include:
- Automatic Garden Watering System
- Self-levelling Vehicle
- Remote Magnetic-adhesion Robot
- Pan and Tilt Ping-pong Launcher
- Pneumatic Engine
.jpg "Automatic Maze Finder")
.jpg "Pneumatic Engine")
Sixth Form
In the Lower Sixth we offer the A2 level Systems and Control course. Students choosing to continue to this level are normally those that have an engineering or design interest for further study at university. The course structure is very similar to the AS level. Some of the outstanding projects this year include:
- Rope Climber
- Automatic Pitch-Control of a Wind Turbine
- Robotic-Hand Manipulator
- Electric Gearbox
- Automatic Gear-Changer for a Road Bike
.JPG "Electrically Actuated Gearbox")
.JPG "Robitic Hand Manipulator")
In the Upper Sixth we are investigating the options for students to continue their engineering interests and possibly offer a scheme like the Engineering in Education Scheme (EES) and maybe the Enrichment Program Qualification (EPQ).
Academic Excellence
- William Reynolds, our current A2 student awarded the 'Google Technology Trailblazer Prize'
- In six of the last seven years at least one of our pupils has been in the top five of the AQA cohort.
- Every year at least two Perse Technology students go on to read Engineering at Oxford and Cambridge. This year six of the nine students in the A2 class applied and all were awarded places for Oxbridge, a record for the department!
- Every year an excellent number of Technology students are awarded highly prestigious national Arkwright Technology Scholarships. We currently have 6 Arkwright scholars in the department, amongst the highest of any School in the country.
Keith Wilkin, MEng
Having studied a Master of Engineering degree in Electro-Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough University, I continue to be enthused by mechatronics; the combination of electronics, mechanics, computing and systems control. During my degree I spent a year in industry with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd and worked on some of the most advanced robotics used for remote reactor inspection and repair. Upon graduation I worked for Schlumberger Oilfield Services as a field engineer and managed wireline functions at the well-site for potential extraction of hydrocarbons for the major oil companies. This took me to the North Sea, Venezuela, Canada and the US. Since my oil days I have worked in applications engineering and support management for different products in different industries, on a global scale.
John Southworth, BSc MSc
Having left Leicester University with a general engineering degree (although, having specialised in communications and electronics) I served in the Army for 20 years before joining the Perse. During this time I obtained a Masters in Electronics and Guided Weapons and worked on many highly sophisticated military projects specialising in short and medium ranged target acquisition radars and remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs). Many of these systems are now in service in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have been teaching Engineering Technology (Systems and Control) for 10 years and have seen over 200 AS and A2 projects completed during this time and many of our pupils gaining places at top universities to read Engineering.