An Cosantóir

www.military.ie the defence forces magazine | 9 By CoMDt ShARon MCMAnuS, 2 FD EngR Coy PhotoS By CPl nEvIllE CoughlAn E ngineers Week is an Engineers Ireland initiative held annu- ally nationwide to promote and celebrate engineering, and took place from 24th February to 2nd March 2018. the Defence Forces Corps of Engineers (CoE) is an accredited continuing profes- sional development (CPD) employer ensuring that engineering competence levels are achieved and maintained in the organisation. the CoE has supported Engineers Week since its inception in 1999 and Custume Bks, Athlone with the Field Engineer Company (now 2 Fd Engrs, formally 4 Fd Engrs) has been supporting this event since 2008. Each year local primary and secondary schools are hosted for a morning, where the students can learn about engineer- ing in the military in a fun and practical way. Children learn using all of their senses so allowing them to see engi- neering at a practical level and to touch and feel the equipment is very beneficial and much more tangible than learning in a classroom. For Engineers Week 2018 the theme was 'Engineering our Future'. The chil- dren's visit began with a lively, inter- active presentation in Kelly's Square Auditorium, which focused on the fol- lowing: What is an engineer? How does the military innovate? and What does a combat engineer do? The main thrust of the presentation was to demonstrate to the children that curiosity and a desire to problem solve were crucial elements in engineering and that each and every child could be an en- gineer. The responses from the children with examples of how they 'engineered' things was impressive and entertaining. Examples of how the military need to innovate in order to improve, fix a problem, move faster and work smarter was demonstrated with examples from everyday life that were originally mili- tary inventions e.g. duct tape, GPS navi- gation etc. This captured the children's attention and again brought realism to the concepts. The presentation ended with an over- view of the roles of combat engineers at home and abroad focusing mainly on: Camp construction and survivability in particular electricity production & water purification; Mobility in particular bridge building & minefield clearance; and counter mobility in particular minefield laying & explosive demolitions The range of questions posed by the children was astounding, like: "What is the first thing that is built when deploy- ing overseas? Why not bring water with you overseas? Why do you do minefield clearance when mines are illegal? How do moving forces keep in contact?" After the presentation the children were split into small groups and brought to the display area where they visited the following stands: Minewolf Mine Clear- ance Flail; Berro Water Purification Plant; Infantry Assault Bridge (IAB); Rubber Inflatable Boat (RIB); Engineer Specialist Search & Clearance Equipment; Electrical Circuit Boards; the Ordnance Corps EOD Robot and finally Small Arms Weapons, Body Armour and Motorola Radios. Each stand was manned by at least 2 technicians who explained in detail to the children how the equipment worked, allowed them to operate it where pos- sible or simply hold and feel the weight in other cases. The children unscrewed sockets and wired electricals circuits, used metal detectors, ran across the IAB, held mines, climbed aboard the RIB, got into firing positions with the GPMG and Steyr and had a lot of fun in the process. Some lucky schools were also able to see the EAS Helicopter and receive a short brief on its capabilities. Ten primary schools visited during Engineers Week with over 450 students. The event was not only beneficial for the visiting students and schools but also for the COE. Explaining how and why the COE does its work and evaluating the best way of communicating that to chil- dren as well as demonstrating that to the most inquisitive minds is a challenge in itself and one that certainly aids continu- ing professional development. The schools featured in the photos are from Baylin National School and Curragh- boy National School. We are looking for- ward already to Engineers Week 2019!

• Cover