Welcome to our September newsletter. We now have over 1,000 subscribers to this newsletter, with the number steadily rising from around the world. The aim of the newsletter is to update our grants community and wider stakeholders on the important work that the Foundation is supporting. We’re always open to suggestions to include in future newsletters of news items or forthcoming Foundation-related events, so if you have any please email Mel Collins.
We’re particularly proud in this newsletter to highlight some of the work the Foundation is sponsoring linked to the educational and skills element of our strategy. This is going to be a growing focus for the Foundation over the coming months and years, to complement the progress we’ve already made in other areas, particularly in scientific research area.
Good reading,
Richard Clegg, Managing Director
Annual review
During the next few weeks the Foundation will be publishing its annual review for 2015. This contains a description of the activities of the Foundation and the impact we’re achieving in pursuit of our charitable strategy. Throughout the year we’re always looking for case-study examples from our grants community of where the Foundation is making an impact. Look out for publication of our annual review on our website.
Lloyd's Register opens its door to the public
On Saturday 19 September, Lloyd’s Register offices in London opened its doors to curious members of the public for Open House 2015. Open House is an annual festival celebrating architecture and design by allowing the public to explore inspiring buildings in the capital for free, including Lloyd’s Register new and old buildings.
One of the Foundation’s charitable purposes is to enhance public education. The Open House event provided an opportunity to showcase some of the work of the Foundation’s Heritage and Education Centre, and also communicate with the public about our charitable activities.
The event was made possible by 16 fantastic volunteers from within Lloyd's Register and nine volunteer stewards provided by Open House. We had a record number of visitors at 2,057 and through generous donations, the event raised over £380 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
NSIRC PhD student present to the Foundation
Seven Lloyd’s Register Foundation-funded PhD students from the National Structural Integrity Research Centre (NSIRC) visited the Foundation in London (UK) on 23 September. The students made the visit as part of their induction to find out more about the Foundation and its charitable objectives, and to meet their individual LR mentors. The LR mentors do an important job in support of the Foundation by providing guidance and an industrial perspective to the students and their research.
Professor Richard Clegg, extended a warm welcome to the students. Richard highlighted that the NSIRC PhDs funded by the Foundation were user-inspired, and in line with the Foundation’s charitable aims to enhance safety and to educate and communicate science to the public.
As the Foundation’s relationship with NSIRC grows there will be more students engaged in delivering its aims. His message to this first batch of students was to internalise the Foundation’s charitable purpose and act as ambassadors.
Following Richard’s opening remarks the students gave presentations about their research and answered questions from the audience, including LRF mentors. Jazeel Chukkan, a PhD student investigating the shakedown effects on ship structures, said: ‘It was a great opportunity to meet the Foundation’s representatives from different sectors within Lloyd’s Register, such as oil and gas, energy and economics. I appreciated the opportunity to discuss the practical applications and benefits of my research, and the impact it could have on the oil and gas sector.’
During the concluding remarks, Richard mentioned that one of the Foundation’s priorities is to increase the number of people from underrepresented communities engaged in science and engineering. He was pleased to see that four of the seven students were female.
The visit demonstrates the growing relationship between NSIRC and the Foundation, working together to train and support the scientists and engineers of the future through the delivery of industrially led research.
Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage & Education Centre
As of October 2015, the LRF Information Centre will now be called the Lloyd's Register Foundation Heritage & Education Centre. After nearly 100 years of having ‘Information’ in our department title, we thought it was time for a change.
The name Heritage & Education Centre reflects the work we currently undertake, including education and outreach, as well as our future projects, fulfilling part of the Foundation Strategy. We chose ‘Heritage’ because we are and will continue to be the custodians of Lloyd's Register’s rich and varied history, all 255 years (and counting) of it. We look to everyone in the organisation to help us keep that heritage for future Lloyd's Register generations to come.
At the October Board meeting of the Foundation, the trustees approved a project – called Project Undaunted – which will generate a long-term vision and business case for putting the archive collection to work as a unique educational resource, in line with the Foundation’s charitable purpose.
The name ‘Undaunted’ was chosen because it is the earliest ship in the archive which has the first survey report from London. It’s also an apt name recognising the size of the project, as there is in excess of 1.25 million items in the archive.
Yarrow Exhibition for the Lord Mayor’s City Giving Day visit
A very successful visit to Lloyd's Register offices in London (UK) from the Lord Mayor for City Giving Day on 30 September, escorted by LR CEO Richard Sadler. Lord Mayor Alan Yarrow met Ruth Boumphrey, Head of Research Grants at Lloyd's Register Foundation and beneficiaries from the Foundation grants to discuss how our funding supports vital training and education.
The Foundation Heritage and Education Centre put together an exhibition for the Lord Mayor’s, showing some of the items we have in the archive and how we use the archive to educate visitors. As the current Lord Mayor, Alan Yarrow is the great-grandson of Sir Alfred Yarrow; founder of Yarrow’s shipyard in London and later Glasgow, we displayed some plans and survey reports from ships built at Yarrow’s yard. The examples included boiler and machinery certificates for the Tien Kwang, fitted with boilers that were to be used on HMS Goole, a minesweeper from the First World War and the general arrangement plan for Apure, a shallow draught river tanker.
We also showed a collection of photographs from the Yarrow yards, including photographs of the works, small steam launches, torpedo boats and paddle steamers built by the company. The photo album and pictures date from the late 19th century. We also had the LR Yacht Trophy on display, which was inaugurated in 1961 and awarded to a Yarrow built yacht, Southern Cross, the following year. The trophy was awarded annually until 1976 to the most outstanding yacht in terms of design, construction, materials and equipment.
The Big Bang Fair 2015
The Big Bang Fair is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths for young people in the UK. Welcoming almost 70,000 visitors in 2015 (with an equal number of boys and girls), the Fair is an established calendar event for young people, teachers and parents. The Foundation has helped to support this event through the Tomorrow’s Engineers.
Almost 200 organisations came together to make The Big Bang Fair 2015 a success. Young people visited the eight themed zones, enjoying, amongst other things, augmented reality technology and rocket car competitions.
Among visitors aged 11-19, significantly more than the national average felt that a career in engineering was desirable (61% compared to 43%). 85% of the key audience of 11-14-year-olds learnt a lot and nearly 60% of young visitors used the opportunity to speak to someone about careers. Volunteers from across industry, from senior management to graduates and apprentices gave their time to provide young people with valuable inspiration and share their experience.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “The Big Bang Fair encourages young people to understand what science and maths and technology can mean in life as well as in the classroom.”
One of the students attending the 2015 Fair said: “The Big Bang Fair makes you understand the different careers and what you need to do to get into them”
Travelling Science Education in Turkey
The Foundation’s Trustees have approved a responsive-mode application from Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV) for a grant of £132,000 over two years for Travelling Science Education in Turkey. The project will create a mobile learning unit, Science Firefly, to travel to disadvantaged regions and address barriers in the Turkish educational system. This will actively engage the students, enhance their problem-solving skills, and promote understanding of science. The project will also provide training, tools, and materials to promote quality science education, training teachers in innovative, child-centered teaching techniques. Disadvantaged communities are defined by such criteria as educational attainment levels; low socio-economic levels; family sizes; unemployment rates; proximity to major city centres; and capacity of local schools. TEGV will monitor and evaluate results.
Find out more about TEGV here.