South Yorkshire children urged to learn skills for '˜job types that don't yet exist'

Schoolchildren in South Yorkshire are being encouraged to develop skills in innovative technology such as robotics as a result of a '˜skills shortage' in the field.
Adam Seal and Lewis Bibby from Dinnington High School try their hand at virtual realityAdam Seal and Lewis Bibby from Dinnington High School try their hand at virtual reality
Adam Seal and Lewis Bibby from Dinnington High School try their hand at virtual reality

Eighty pupils from across South Yorkshire spent this afternoon at the University of Sheffield learning about virtual reality, robotics and 3D printing in order to gain insight into the kinds of jobs becoming available in the rapidly expanding field of Intelligent Mobility- an industry using new technologies to move people and goods around the world in smarter, greener and more efficient ways.

Watch a live report from the event hereChildren from Forge Valley, Sheffield, Darton College, Barnsley, Horizon Community College, Barnsley, Dinnington High School, Rotherham, and Trinity Academy, Doncaster who are interested in STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering and maths - to see what the future holds in terms of Intelligent Mobility and all the jobs centred on it.

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Dinnington High School pupil Lewis Bibby, aged 13, said he had chosen to come to the afternoon of activities to look further into ‘what you can do in your job and what you can do at university’.

Classmate Adam, also 13, speaking while trying out a virtual reality game, added: “There’s a lot of jobs that you could do here.”

A workshop about a robot being developed to read brain activity in real time was led by James Henshaw, a PhD student from the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering at Sheffield University.

He demonstrated how the an electroencephalography helmet worked and explained that brain-controlled robotics is a rapidly growing field.

James Henshaw is doing a PhD in brain-controlled robotics and shared his passion with the studentsJames Henshaw is doing a PhD in brain-controlled robotics and shared his passion with the students
James Henshaw is doing a PhD in brain-controlled robotics and shared his passion with the students

He said: “I recommend anyone to get into it.”

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The event was organised by Gaia Innovation and Sheffield University Transport Innovation Centre.

Julia Muir, CEO of Gaia Innovation, said the aim of the event was ‘to try to light a spark in the minds of young people to inspire them to look to jobs in the future that might not actually exist now’.

She added: “Currently we have not got enough skilled people to be able to work on these kinds of projects.”

James Henshaw is doing a PhD in brain-controlled robotics and shared his passion with the studentsJames Henshaw is doing a PhD in brain-controlled robotics and shared his passion with the students
James Henshaw is doing a PhD in brain-controlled robotics and shared his passion with the students

Sheffield University Transport Innovation Centre provides organisations with access to the UK’s world-class research and work to ensure that the UK has the skilled workforce to support the Intelligent Mobility market.

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