Beko Work To Inspire The Next Generation Of Scientists At Marlborough College’s Beko Innovation Centre

Since the official opening of the Beko Innovation Centre on the campus of Marlborough College in September 2021, Beko’s partnership with Marlborough College has provided a series of educational opportunities for the next generation of thinkers and innovators.

The Innovation Centre itself was made possible through a donation by Beko and a former pupil, along with the support of several other donors. It has since become a hub for the various science and technology outreach activities led by Marlborough College in collaboration with its partner primary schools.

One of the recent programmes was Generation Earthshot, an educational initiative associated with the prestigious Earthshot Prize, that has been supported by the Prince of Wales. Generation Earthshot aims to help younger pupils develop creative solutions to social problems, with a particular focus on climate change. Through this initiative, the pupils can join in with The Earthshot Prize’s mission to incentivise environmental change over the next 10 years.

Marlborough College’s own participation in Generation Earthshot took the form of a 10-week STEM outreach programme with pupils from Broad Hinton Church of England Primary School. The pupils utilised the award-winning “Twin Science and Robotics Kits” in activities based around the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

One activity, based upon how technology can improve people’s lives, saw the pupils develop a robotic hand; another saw the development of a “living wall” of plants potted up in recycled plastic bottles, alongside a solar-powered irrigation system.

Beko have enhanced their support with a range of other donations, such as the provision of five of Beko’s parent company’s, Arçelik, 3D printers. Three of the machines are being used at Marlborough College itself, with the others gifted to two of Marlborough’s partner schools, Pewsey Vale Primary School and Swindon Academy.

Beko’s partnership with the College also inspired the launch of the Marlborough Innovation Student Awards (MISA) based at the Beko Innovation Centre. The awards programme looks to develop future-ready skills which will help participants stand out in the tertiary education recruitment market, at the same time training them to formulate creative solutions to the challenges of the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’.

The partnership has extended opportunities to Marlborough College teachers as well as its pupils. One opportunity this summer saw graduate teacher Julian Patient attend a placement with Beko’s team at the Beko R&D Centre at Cambridge. Here, Julian was able to work on a variety of projects, including market and competitor research, flow simulation and the design of electronic housing.