Royal Navy visits Clydebank for STEM West 2019

ROYAL Navy personnel from Scotland’s largest military site recently visited West College Scotland Clydebank Campus for STEM West 2019.

Now in its third year, and run by organisation Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), STEM West aims to inspire the workers of the future. 
 
Over 500 third-year pupils from across Inverclyde, Renfrew and Dunbartonshire attended the event which run from November 25-26.  Sailors and Submariners from HM Naval Base Clyde were on-hand to introduce them to some of the science and technology behind today’s modern Royal Navy.
 
“It was a pleasure to be part of this event,” said Warrant Officer 1 Mark Harris, STEM Engagement Coordinator based at HMNB Clyde.  “It makes it all the more special to us when we can support the local Clyde community.  We were very impressed with the knowledge and skills of the young people and their enthusiasm to learn.”

Young visitors were given the chance to experience robotic coding, pneumatic circuit building, as well as a virtual reality insight into life onboard a submarine. 
 
The Royal Navy team also brought along their virtual reality Sonar experience.  Developed in conjunction with the University of Portsmouth, users don a virtual reality headset and enter the Sonar Room within a submarine.  They are then challenged to pick-up a number of different sounds and match them with a picture of a ship, ice, a whale, and another submarine.  Expert Submariners were on-hand throughout to offer their help and share their experience of life under the ocean.
 
Other organisations attending the event included: Glasgow Science Centre, Babcock, Rolls-Royce, Thales, RAF, Balfour Beatty and the NHS to name but a few.