PRIMARY school engineers designed and tested their own subsea robots as part of a project designed to captivate an interest in science and maths at an early age.

Around 60 pupils from Springfield Primary School in Darlington took part in a series of sessions which introduced them to the technology behind deep sea robots known as ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles).

They then took their creations to the C-State Subsea Training Centre to see a £4m ROV before testing their own creations, which incorporated the same basic technology, under the watchful eye of Jonathan Edwards, Commercial Manager of Darlington based Modus Seabed Intervention.

Modus established the C-State Subsea Training Centre at Darlington College last year to train ROV pilots and technicians.

Through Foundation for Jobs Modus had funded Springfield teacher Jen Foster to take part in a Primary Engineer training course last year

Primary Engineer is a not-for-profit organisation established to encourage young people to consider careers in STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics related professions with the aim of producing the engineers of the future, through practical Maths, Science and Design Technology activities.

Foundation for Jobs and Modus have been working together for more than two years on giving young people an insight into an industry sector many had limited knowledge of, but which is a growth area for the North-East economy and facing potential skills gaps.

Subsea is worth £9bn a year to the UK economy, with more than 50 firms in the North East alone employing 15,000 people and with annual revenues of £1.5bn.

A Foundation for Jobs spokesman said: “It is vitally important that we capture young people’s interest at an early age so that they realise that STEM related careers are exciting and interesting and that the subjects that lead to these careers are important.

“We believe practical projects really capture these young pupils imagination in a way that we couldn’t simply by giving them a talk.

“We were delighted to once again have the support of Modus for this particular project and to Jonathan for coming and meeting the pupils and judging their ROV designs.

“The Springfield pupils were a pleasure to work with and the number of really insightful questions they asked Jonathan at the final session demonstrated that the whole activity had really captured their imagination.”

Now a national award-winning project, Foundation for Jobs is a joint initiative to tackle youth unemployment involving The Northern Echo, Darlington Borough Council and the Darlington Partnership of private firms and public sector organisations, which has also enjoyed support from businesses and industrialists across the whole North-East region.

It has worked with more than 4,700 young people since it was launched in January 2012.

For further details contact owen.mcateer@darlington.gov.uk or go to www.foundationforjobs.co.uk