A MECHANICAL engineer and mum from Wotton-under-Edge has been awarded a prize for encouraging young people towards a career in the field.

Caroline Alliston, 51, received the Alastair Graham-Bryce award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at the end of September.

After working as an engineer for more than 20 years, Caroline and two other mums started running a technology club at Blue Coat Primary School to enthuse children about science, technology and engineering.

Caroline developed a huge range of projects which appealed to both boys and girls, making working models using everyday household objects and the tools available in the school cupboards.

Soon the waiting list was bigger than the club itself, so Caroline took 30 of their favourite projects, and wrote a book of instructions called ‘Technology for Fun’ so that other children could do them at home.

The word started to spread, and Caroline got invited to run more clubs and workshops, including training teachers and STEM ambassadors how to run the projects, enabling her to reach many more children.

She was then asked to write some resources aimed specifically at teachers for The Times educational supplement website, relating the projects to curriculum learning objectives. These have now been downloaded more than 40,000 times.   

The award was presented to her at a ceremony at the institution’s headquarters in London by president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Professor Richard Folkson.

He said: “Caroline has proven herself to be a great role model for young engineers and I was delighted to present her with the Alastair Graham-Bryce Award.

“As the UK continues to face a huge skills crisis when it comes to young engineers, it’s a pleasure to see people like Caroline already making a difference in the field.

“Engineers are of great importance. We need to continue to highlight the need for science and engineering in the UK and recognise its importance to the economy."

“I am confident that Caroline will continue to thrive in here engineering work.”

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was established in 1847.

Caroline has two books entitled ‘Technology for Fun 2’ and ‘Physics for Fun’ and and continues to run many clubs and workshops.

Her books are available online at technologyforfun.co.uk and from the Cotswold Book Room in Wotton.

This term Caroline will return to Blue Coat School with an autumn programme of fun technology projects sponsored by Renishaw.