Prof. Eng. Christopher Maina is the lead partner in the Royal Academy of Engineers grant titled “Engineering Skills Where they are Most Needed” (May 2020 – December 2022). The Royal Academy of Engineers through the Engineering X, an international collaboration founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and Lloyd’s Register awarded the grant to Murang’a University of Technology. The amount granted is £ 50,000 (UK Pounds Fifty Thousand Only). Through the grant, the University aims to promote engineering at degree level and TVET level through hands on exercises that will inspire high school students to choose engineering oriented programmes.
The Grant Activities entailed amongst others Precollege Sessions for Secondary Schools (PSSS). This is an integrated approach to raising participants’ awareness of engineering career opportunities. The host university Murang’a University of Technology and Ischool climate Company Ltd made significant contributions to the program development and implementation. This integrated approach is effective at convincing students that a STEM college education is feasible and rewarding by providing them with diverse perspectives. Many prior studies have examined the impacts of precollege outreach programs, but a quantitative approach to measuring the effectiveness of such programs for participants with diverse backgrounds and different program experiences has been lacking. This programme fills in this knowledge gap by examining multiple factors affecting a PSSS programme’s effectiveness at promoting engineering career choice. The high students acquired the following gains: