Robotics made fun with a winning girls engineering team at a Witchford firm

Witchford firm Innomech invite local schoolchildren to see robotics in action (Image: Archant)

Students and staff from Witchford Village College, Ely Village College and Kings College, Ely had a chance to see Girls of Steel, a winning team of young aspiring engineers.

Girls of Steel are the UK VEX Robotics champions of 2017.

The Innomech Group invited the young champions to their firm to demonstrate their winning creations in action.

Julie Smith, managing director of Nexus IE, said: “It’s been a privilege to welcome the Girls of Steel to our premises and to learn about their drive and enthusiasm for engineering.

“It is an excellent way to capture students’ imagination and develop skills in mechatronics as well as presentation skills and social networking.

“The girls are a fantastic example of what can be achieved when engineering is applied in a fun and practical way.

“It also helps break open the world of engineering showing it is just as accessible to girls as well as boys.”

The Girls of Steel, a group of inspiring Year 9 students from East Barnet School in North London, reached out to The Innomech Group earlier this year for support to take part in The VEX Robotics Competition, the largest and fastest growing middle and high school robotics program globally.

Taking part are more than 18,000 teams from 40 countries playing in over 1,350 competitions.

The girls won the UK championships and, with support from Innomech, they were able to travel to Kentucky USA, to compete in the VEX Robotics World Championships where they finished in the top 60 - more than 200 teams took part in the championships.

The Innomech Group is made up of two businesses. Innomech specialises in designing and developing industrial process custom automation technology, while Nexus IE, offers an all-inclusive manufacturing service, covering design, build and ongoing support to technology start-ups and businesses in the Ely region.