STEM event: HS2 Careers Winners!

STEM event: HS2 Careers Winners!

Who are HS2 and why is the railway important to young people?

HS2 is a new high-speed railway with the aims of improving Carbon, Capacity and Connectivity in the UK.  It will create more than 22,000 jobs in its construction alone, The idea is to create a high-speed link for London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. It will reduce passenger overcrowding and help rebalance the UK's economy through investment in transport links outside London. 

HS1 is the 109km rail line between St Pancras International in London and the Channel Tunnel and connects the international high-speed routes between London and Paris, London and Brussels and London and Amsterdam, as well as the domestic route from London to Kent.


Civil Engineers at HS2 

Phase One of HS2 will see a new high speed railway line constructed from London to the West Midlands, where it will re-join the existing West Coast Mainline. Services will travel onwards to places like Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan. Phase One will open between 2029 and 2033.

The new line between will run on 140 miles of dedicated track.  Four brand new stations and two new depots will also be built. 25,300 workers will be needed to complete construction.

     


Why is this relevant to young people? 
HS2 is an ongoing project. Work to this date ranges from the initial urban and operational design, communications with stakeholders and excavating land for civil engineers to then build on, however, more and more jobs will be created as the project goes on. 

Jobs include roles in the following sectors: 
• procurement
• urban design and integration
• architecture
• engineering
• landscape and public realm
• operational design
• service design / customer experience
• community engagement
• communications and branding
• inclusive design
• art and culture
• sustainability


The Inter-Academy HS2 Careers Competition: 

On Tuesday 7^th June, eight Year 9 students competed against the Sandwell, Madeley and Walsall academies in an exciting engineering challenge led by HS2. 
The aim of the day was to expose students to possible career opportunities related to their STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
A representative from HS2 and educational charity SmallPeice Trust gave students an insight into the thinking behind the HS2 project and exercised many of their careers related skills such as problem-solving, teamwork and communication.

Teams were involved in several practical activities such as ‘designing a rail network for the future’ and ‘building a tunnel structure’.
Considering the environmental challenges facing our society, our teams included features such as electric charging points, innovative energy sources and organic food restaurants when designing their station. The tunnel task proved a real challenge, but with mathematical thinking, students came up with structures aimed to withstand weight and enable a model train to pass through.
Through great collaboration and team effort, Thomas Telford School won the STEM Challenge trophy! Many congratulations to Abbie, Bethanie, Jacob, Japhet, Layla, Jessica, Liam and Alex!

The day really enabled students to think about job opportunities in the future and to consider how the information and skills they learn now will be applicable to the real world.
Furthermore, all students were an asset to Thomas Telford as behaved exceptionally and showed great competitive spirit!
Many thanks to Mr Wadsworth at Walsall Academy for inviting us to participate and to all those involved.

Our Year 9 students.
This wonderful group of students were extremely appreciative of the opportunity to learn from the education team at HS2.