Launching STEM at Leicester Islamic Academy

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Monday 1 June 2020 11:44 AM

Launching STEM at Leicester Islamic Academy

My name is Osman Bawa and I am a Quality Lead working in Rolls-Royce’s Global IT function

I joined Rolls-Royce in 2014 and since then I have been involved in several exciting job roles across many projects and business areas.

Before joining Rolls-Royce, I worked at Airbus Defence & Space where I started my career in industry after graduating with a MEng in Aerospace Engineering from Queen Mary, University of London.

During my school days, I was not fortunate enough to be exposed to the network of inspiring STEM ambassadors and it was because of this that I didn’t think twice when I was asked to become a STEM ambassador for the Engineering department at my University - I have been an active STEM ambassador ever since.

Being a STEM ambassador gives me a great deal of satisfaction, especially when I see children who have been truly inspired by the activities I have delivered.

Not only am I able to inspire the children whilst teaching them about engineering principles, careers or soft skills, but I too am constantly inspired by the students – the students have really challenged my own thinking style and have stimulated my ‘out of the box’ thinking. By delivering many STEM activities in primary schools, I have also brushed up my ability to present and communicate information in a simple, concise and engaging way. This also helps me in my day to day work at Rolls-Royce.

My involvement with STEM has also encouraged me to become a school governor. As a governor I can use the STEM knowledge and experience I have gained to enhance the school’s STEM curriculum.

For me a successful STEM ambassador is one that takes part in the initiative purely to motivate and grow the aspirations of students to take on STEM careers. You don’t have to be confident or a great communicator but when done for the right reasons, the confidence, communication and many more skills will come naturally.

As a member of the Rolls-Royce Multi Faith Network I have focussed on delivering STEM activities in faith-based schools.

One of these schools is Leicester Islamic Academy which my daughters attend. This school has had little to no STEM ambassador interaction and upon discovering this I jumped at the opportunity to inspire the students to study STEM subjects, especially because the majority of the children attending the school are from a disadvantaged background.

The first STEM activity I ran was in 2018 which involved students from year 5 & 6 learning about the concepts of pulleys. This was the first time the students had had an engineer come to the school to deliver a practical engineering activity and they were ecstatic and amazed through the whole two hours. Following the activity, the teachers fed back that some of their students who had low aspirations were now set on becoming engineers when they were older – this is exactly why I wanted to introduce STEM activities into this school!

The STEM activities didn’t end there - Since the first activity, I, along with my fantastic colleagues at Rolls-Royce have delivered many more fun and inspiring activities to different year groups. My passion for STEM has resulted in me becoming a governor at the school and whilst delivering STEM activities I also play a key role in ensuring STEM is integrated as part of the school curriculum across all the key stages.

Working with Leicester Islamic Academy to produce PPE during the current crisis

For many in our society, such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other key workers, social distancing at work is not possible.

Such individuals, including members of my own extended family, are continuously putting themselves and their immediate families at risk. This situation made me want to help in any way I could – and so I, along with the amazing staff and students of Leicester Islamic Academy,

have been using a 3D printer (which the school won through a competition run by Create Education and Rolls-Royce) to make face visors for medical professionals in our local community. Even the few children attending school are getting involved – for each visor, they make and decorate a card filled with messages of thanks. Along with the principles of gratitude, appreciation and helping others, these young children are also learning first-hand how their own 3D printer is helping to protect fellow human beings from the deadly virus – in my view, this is real learning! For me personally, being able to help others has been extremely satisfying and humbling.