There are a large number of opportunities to use your knowledge and skills from your Engineering degree to have a positive impact on the local community. Getting involved in some outreach volunteering during your degree can be a great way to build communication skills by promoting science and engineering to the public.
Volunteering roles with groups like STEMSoc or Computing at School involve making engineering and computer science accessible for a young audience. As well as outreach activities, there are lots of other opportunities such as volunteering at the Science and Industry Museum.
Computing at Schools
The Department of Computer Science supports schools to adopt computing as a classroom subject and as a school activity through the nationwide Computing at Schools initiative. You could help to deliver workshops, school clubs and Discover Computer Science days to primary and secondary pupils.
Engineers Without Borders (EWB)
Engineers Without Borders runs initiatives in UK and around the world aiming to make positive global contributions through engineering. The Manchester branch organises projects, events, talks and research including schools outreach workshops and mapathon events.
Engineering: Volunteering & Outreach (EVO) Society
A social responsibility orientated society that runs its own outreach projects, creating and delivering engineering activities to school children in order to generate an interest in engineering. In addition, the society runs and can also signpost you to other volunteering projects that will give you the chance to put your engineering knowledge into practice.
STEMSoc
STEMSoc is a student outreach society aiming to engage the public with science, encourage children to pursue a career in STEM and help fix the gender gap in these fields. Help young pupils learn how to code or take the lab on the road and run educational sessions in local libraries.
If you’re not sure about what volunteering you would like to do or you would like to chat through some of these opportunities, the Volunteering Team is here to help!
You can book an online support call with one of the team. If you would rather meet a member of the Volunteering Team in person or speak to them over the phone, we can easily arrange this. Just email us via volunteers@manchester.ac.uk to arrange this.
Oskar studies Mechanical Engineering. As part of his summer he spent some time volunteering with Mildmay Hospital, a leading HIV care and treatment provider in Uganda. Placements at the hospital target all students, not just those with medical backgrounds allowing students to engage with business processes, logistics, communications and site management as well as areas within health and social care.
Ananya is a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. She was a Peer Mentor in the School and has done volunteering as a Student Ambassador during British Science Week and #ScienceX, both of which were outreach events for the community to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
"I volunteered because I love talking about my research (and science generally) and also because I believe it’s important to give back to the community. It’s also quite heartwarming to see some of the reactions and feedback from the children, from awe at the robots to never-ending curiosity about autonomous hoovers.It was a brilliant experience! Events like these not only allow you to practise your public speaking skills, they also make you think about the wider aspects of your research."
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