Interactive Workshops

Bridge Construction Challenge

Working as engineering teams, students design and create model beam bridges using plastic drinking straws and tape as their construction materials. Their goal is to build the strongest bridge with a truss pattern of their own design, while meeting the design criteria and constraints. They will experiment with different geometric shapes, determine how shapes affect the strength of materials whilst testing their designs with the weights provided.

Event Type: Interactive workshop

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Engineering, Physics, Electronics and/ or Maths

Length: 1-1.5 hours

Platform: In-person

Booking numbers: Minimum no. 6, Maximum no. 30

Requirements: this is a classroom based activity with room to test bridges between desks

Date and time: Negotiable

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk 

 

Engineering and it’s impact on the global grand challenges 

This team challenge activity allows students to explore their engineering skills by working together to solve a real world problem, based on the global grand challenges: 

• Artificial Intelligence and data 
• Ageing society 
• Clean growth 
• Future of mobility 

Event type: Interactive workshop 

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Engineering/ Science or with an interest in studying Engineering at University 

Length: 1.5 – 2 hours 

Platform: Online or in-person 

Booking numbers: Minimum no. 6, Maximum no. 30 – teams can be made up of between 3 and 5 students 

Requirements:

If online:  

All participants must be able to hear and see the presenter. Participants will also need access to a PC to feedback their ideas to the presenter. This can either be via: 

1. Individual PC, laptops, tablets or phones 
2. Staff PC or laptop at the front of class which allows a representative from each group to come forward to share their ideas and ask the specialist questions  

Date and time: Negotiable 

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk 

Introduction to logic gates and digital circuits

Your students will learn about the various types of digital logic gates. They'll verify the truth tables of these logic gates. They will have the opportunity to design and test digital circuit for the given challenge using a combination of basic logic gates.

Event type: Interactive workshop 

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Engineering, Electronics, Maths or Physics. 

Length: 1 hours

Platform: in-person 

Booking numbers: Minimum no. 5, Maximum no. 30

Requirements: his is a classroom activity using breadboards. We will need power supply during the activity. This can also take place in a PC lab.

Date and time: Negotiable 

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk 

How do Engineers help surgeons save lives

In this workshop, students will get to see how scientific and mathematical principles are used by engineers to design and develop devices, which help preserve the quality of life, for people, through surgical intervention. We will look at what goes into designing medical implants and how engineering supports medical teams to preserve and enhance life.

For those students who are interested in more general engineering, we will explore how the same basic principles apply to other engineering disciplines, such as automotive and civil engineering, highlighting just how diverse careers in the field can be. We will finish with a short careers talk looking at the tens of thousands of opportunities for Engineers to have careers which are impactful and rewarding and can take you across the globe.

Event Type: Interactive workshop

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Engineering, Electronics, Physics or Maths

Length: 1 hour

Platform: In-person

Booking numbers: Minimum no. 5, Maximum no. 40

Requirements: Classroom with projector preferred but not essential

Links to Curriculum: Force, pressure, materials, structure, calculus, trigonometry.

Date and time: Negotiable

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk 

How can Engineers make the aerospace industry more sustainable?

Through a hands-on and interactive case study we will look at some of the engineering design principles, and materials technology that can contribute to a greener future for Aviation. 

Event type: Interactive workshop 

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Engineering, Electronics, Physics or Maths.

Length: 1 hour

Platform: In-person 

Booking numbers: Minimum no. 5, Maximum no. 40 

Requirements: Classroom with projector preferred but not essential.

Links to Curriculum: Force, pressure, materials, structure, mechanics and heat transfer.

Date and time: Negotiable 

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk 

Feeling the Force: Fields that make the world go around

In this demonstration, we will: 

1. Investigate the interaction with a current carrying conductor and a permanent magnet field.
2. Test and consider the force acting on a coil in a rotary system, and relate this to the related describing equations
3. Explore how a set of suitably excited coils can generate a rotating magnetic field – the concept of rotating electric machines.   

Note: For the investigations we will need some victims helpers to hold components, move pieces, measure and sketch results. 

Event type: Interactive workshop 

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Physics, Electronics, Engineering or Maths 

Length: 1 hour 

Platform: In-person 

Booking numbers: Minimum no.5, Maximum no.40 

Requirements: Classroom 

Links to curriculum:  

• Force, energy and momentum  
• Work, energy and power 
• Scalars and vectors 
• Fields and their consequences  
• Electricity 

Date and time: Negotiable 

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk 

Students will perform torsion tests on small metal specimens (steel, aluminium, copper, brass) to study their mechanical behaviour under twisting. They will measure torque, angle of twist, and calculate shear stress, shear strain, and shear modulus. Observations of ductility and failure modes will be recorded. Results will be analysed by plotting torque versus angle of twist and comparing torsional performance across metals, reinforcing understanding of material properties and structural behaviour.

Event Type: Interactive workshop

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Engineering, Electronics, Physics or Maths

Length: 1 hour

Platform: In-person

Booking numbers: Minimum no. 5, Maximum no. 40

Requirements: Lab on campus

Links to Curriculum: Force, pressure, materials, structure, calculus, trigonometry.

Date and time: Negotiable

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk  

Students will explore water flow in a fluid channel to understand fundamental fluid dynamics concepts. They will observe how water moves through different channel shapes and obstacles, noting changes in flow patterns, speed, and turbulence. The session emphasizes the relationship between flow behaviour, channel geometry, and energy, helping students develop an intuitive understanding of laminar and turbulent flows and the principles governing real fluid movement in engineering systems.

Event Type: Interactive workshop

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Engineering, Electronics, Physics or Maths

Length: 1 hour

Platform: In-person

Booking numbers: Minimum no. 5, Maximum no. 40

Requirements: Lab on campus

Links to Curriculum: Force, pressure, materials, structure, calculus, trigonometry.

Date and time: Negotiable

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk  

In this practical lab session, you’ll have an understanding of Structural materials and these are required to withstand a variety of applied loads in use. Understanding how these materials respond to applied loads is vital for informed materials selection. Here you can investigate how materials behave under tensile loading, tensile failure and how they deform.

Event Type: Interactive workshop

Suitable for: Post-16 students studying Engineering, Electronics, Physics or Maths

Length: 1 hour

Platform: In-person

Booking numbers: Minimum no. 5, Maximum no. 40

Requirements: Lab on campus

Links to Curriculum: Force, pressure, materials, structure, calculus, trigonometry.

Date and time: Negotiable

To book or discuss the workshop further, contact opendays@hud.ac.uk