“Engineers’ Week is a week long programme of nationwide events with the aim of celebrating the world of engineering in Ireland. The aim of the week is to create a positive awareness and spark enthusiasm about the engineering profession to people of various ages with little or no engineering background.”

There are many events being run throughout the country aimed at a range of ages. From primary school kids to third level students, families and the general public, there should be something to interest and suit all.

My older children are particularly interested in the “CEIA Lego Robot Competition Finals” which are being held in the Maryborough House Hotel in Douglas, Cork on the 17 Feb 2011 from 5:30 to 8pm. In Cork, there appear to be many events taking place in Blackrock Castle Observatory and the Lifetime lab.

The Engineers Week website has the full schedule of events and a search filter to tailor your choice according to county, date or  audience age. Worth checking out I reckon.

With the school year underway, Engineers Ireland has announced it is to offer maths grinds to higher-level Leaving Certificate Maths students from Saturday 25th of September until the Easter holidays.

These grinds shall be free of charge and shall take place each Saturday from 11am till 2pm in the Engineer Ireland offices in Ballsbridge, Dublin.

Tim Joyce, Chartered Engineer, who will be giving the grinds explained: “The grinds will focus on the real-life applicability of maths concepts with the pre-records giving students flexibility as time pressures build up ahead of the exams in June. Engineers have a good practical approach to things and have gained experience in using mathematics in their work.  This should allow us remove, at least some of, the barriers that many students have by helping them understand the real value and applicability of the methods they are now learning.  This may also allow them make the step from learning theory and methods to becoming adept at applying it to solve the problems presented in the exam.  As a consequence, working through questions from past Leaving Certificates must form a big part of our effort. The focus will be to provide value-added sessions for students.”

The grinds  shall be recorded and available for online viewing from the website for those unable to attend. I think this is a good idea. Any measure that can elevate students’ mathematical comprehension and problem solving abilities rather than dumbing down the syllabus is a step in the right direction in my opinion. The fact that the grinds are free is also, I’m sure, welcomed by the students’ parents.

Further information and register online here.

I look forward to hearing how they go. Is this an idea that should be taken up by other professional bodies?

UPDATE: Due to the popularity of the free maths grind session, it has been booked out. Therefore another session from 2pm to 4pm is now offered. Register here.