Ford has been supporting the Athena STEM residential for eight years. It is specifically open to year 10 students (aged 14-15) who identify as female. Ford’s continued support of the project has seen around fifty students visiting Loughborough every year for a unique and inspirational insight into studying STEM at university level.
The residential
The students stayed in university halls of residence, attended academic taster sessions, and took part in social activities, all to experience life as a university student.
Student attendees were set a challenge to design their own sustainable island for a community of 40 families. They applied what they had learned in their academic taster sessions to think of creative solutions to challenges facing the world today – such as renewable energy sources, sustainable transport and educating the next generation.
One Athena student said: “I really enjoyed the Athena Island project because it was a chance to be creative while using science to solve real-world problems. Designing a sustainable island made me think differently about things like energy and transport. It wasn’t just about learning facts – it was about applying them.”
Lorna Powell, Outreach Manager at the University said:
“Seeing the students grow in confidence as they progressed through the week was a pleasure to see. Speaking with the students, some already had big ideas for what their futures hold, whereas for others, the residential inspired new ideas and ambitions.
“Thank you again to Ford Philanthropy for continuing to fund this activity for the eighth year.”
The speakers
Several speakers delivered sessions during the residential. Alumna Rebecca Szmega, who graduated with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering in 2023 and is now a Mechanical Engineer at Fortescue Zero, joined Vineet Atwal (PDL Analyst, Ford) and Dr Jo Jennings (Visiting Member, Loughborough University) to share insights into STEM.
Alumna Rebecca contributed for the second year in a row. Before her student days, Rebecca had also attended a similar residential which inspired her to study at Loughborough.
The three speakers challenged gender stereotypes in engineering and encouraged attendees to explore a wide range of engineering disciplines and career paths. They emphasised the importance of staying true to personal interests and passions when making career decisions.
Further support from Ford
Ford also supports SMART Mobility at the University, an extracurricular transdisciplinary design challenge, formulated to educate, encourage, and transform teams of students into social entrepreneurs.
The challenge invites teams of students to propose new ideas for sustainable urban solutions for communities and fosters the development of these ideas into tangible, feasible and viable social enterprises and start-ups. The outcomes might be solutions which will make people’s lives better by shaping the way people live and move within their urban communities, enabling and empowering them as individuals and citizens. Solutions might enable people and goods to move freely, easily, and safely, provide access to essential resources, promote connectivity, health and well-being, be green and clean, and promote energy efficient living.
The project has evolved over the past seven years, with some of the students continuing to develop their design as a potential business, past the project end-date.
Thank you to Ford Philanthropy for their continued support and to everyone who contributed to Athena STEM.
Find out more about Athena STEM and associated resources online.
