CAMBOURNE ELECTRONICS AND ROBOTICS CLUB (CERC) organised its first hands-on 3D-Mechanical CAD workshop on Sunday, 9th December at the Sports Pavilion, for children aged 7-14.
More than 40 children attended the workshop, which was coordinated by club mentor Dr Sujit Bhattacharya and delivered by senior mechanical engineer, Sophie Sladen, along with Dylan Krakowski. The workshop focused on various design aspects of mechanical designs based on TinkerCAD software.
The children made a cardboard model of the robot that they are developing in the club. Future advanced 3D modeling workshops are planned to train the kids to make 3D-models and use a 3D-printer.
These initiatives have broadened the scope of the club to STEAMD by including Art and Design in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM).
The new batch of CERC will start in March. CERC provides opportunities for children to communicate science, create new projects, improve their creativity and gain confidence and appreciation from parents, friends and members of the community. Since its inception, the club has served more than 120 children aged 7 to 14 years with STEM-related activities.
The club runs on alternate Sundays throughout the year. Initially, all children start with the BBC Micro:bit to present their projects publicly and receive a certificate of recognition then move on to the next level of coding based on Micro:Python.
CERC has organised workshops on Design and Innovation and Machine Learning, a 3D-Printer workshop in Makespace and a 3D-Mechanical CAD Hands-on workshop. The members of the club are taking part in the First Lego League competition at the University of Cambridge, the PiWars 2019 competition and Micro:bit Global Challenge and also participate in large numbers at the Cambourne Science Festival. The club is also providing volunteering opportunities for local college students of 14 - 16 years. The next intake of children will commence from 3rd March 2019. For more information and registration, please contact shrobona@gmail.com.
