Space Group is to host a day of inspired learning for 14 North East Schools on Tuesday 27 February at Newcastle’s the Boiler Shop.
The day has been designed to offer children and young adults from the age of 9 to 19 years a taste of what it’s like to have a career in some of the UK’s top organisations which develop new and emerging technologies within the construction industry.
Space Group have invited schools and colleges from across the region to take part in a series of engaging workshops where they will experience first-hand how these future-thinking businesses use robotics, drones, virtual relativity, 3D modelling and cloud technology to deliver today’s modern methods of construction in what is now termed ‘the digital built environment’.
The schools range from primary through to college level, and include; Seaham High School, Washington Academy, Benfield High School and Newcastle College. Each school or college has a minimum of 15 children attending the day, which starts at 9.00am and runs through to 3:00pm.
Space Group have partnered with Northumbria Water and Newcastle College to create this high-tech day of learning during which they aim to inspire their young audience into considering a career in construction, whether it be architecture, engineering, computational design or digital construction.
Space Group CEO, Rob Charlton commented on the importance of reaching out to young people; “The world of technology is expanding at an uncontrollable rate, young people today live and breath technology and we want to harness this power to focus it into educating the brilliant minds of tomorrow.”
“In construction today we are fast approaching a skills gap, and we need to address this now to ensure our industry professionals continue to grow at the same rate as technology evolves.”
There will be seven workshop sessions for the attendees to participate in, run by some of Space Group’s own network, including BIM. Technologies, the UK’s leading Building Information Modelling (BIM) consultancy and Space Architects.
These two technology-led businesses will be joined by Autodesk, KyKloud, Faro, Luminous, Topcon and Galliford Try who will each be delivering a workshop.
Galliford Try is a FTSE 250 business and one of the UK’s leading regeneration and housebuilding groups, with revenues of £2.7 billion. Galliford Try is the main contractor for Newcastle’s new University Technical College (UTC) which is being built only metres away from the Boiler Shop in Stephenson’s Quarter, close to Newcastle Central Station. The attendees will take part in a virtual reality experience of how the UTC has been designed before they experience it physically by going on-site to actually witness part of the construction process.
Rob Charlton added: “Construction can often be known for simply bricklaying, plastering and plumbing. We are hoping to change this misconception and show the young people there are indeed opportunities for coding, virtual reality and 3D modelling. The Inspiration Day is intended to encourage young people in the North East to consider a career in this exciting sector.”
The Inspiration Day is part of Space Group’s BIM Show Live three-day programme. BIM Show Live is also taking place at the Boiler Shop in Newcastle, and is a construction industry show like no other. It brings together like-minded future-thinkers in the world of digital construction. The BIM Awards are taking place on the evening of Tuesday 27 February which recognise industry talent and deliver success in the field of BIM, then the show itself follows on for a further two days, providing a programme of 32 seminars from over 50 UK and international speakers.
