Summer school robots and 3D printing give future engineers hands-on inspiration
Teenagers test-drive future careers in engineering, psychology, and robotics, in events in the London campus maker space
LONDON – Aspiring aerospace engineer Salma Akter inputted commands on a laser cutting machine the size of a chest freezer under the watchful eye of Northeastern University London senior technologist Omar Al-Maaytah.
While the 3D printers whirred in the background of the campus’s cutting-edge makerspace, tracing out the Northeastern logo in shiny red plastic, Akter, who goes to Enfield County School for Girls in North London, said she wants to make a career with airplanes in the coming years. She said the hands-on experience and instruction at Northeastern helped her think more broadly about what path she might follow.
“Originally, I was thinking of being a pilot. But if I don’t get there, maybe aeronautical engineering,” she said.
Akter was one of dozens of high school students participating in Northeastern University London’s summer school, which offers prospective college students a chance to experiment with robotic technology and learn if engineering could be the right path for them.
Now in its fourth year, the free summer school invites 16-year-olds entering their final two years of U.K. secondary education – the period when students prepare for A-level exams and other qualifications equivalent to a U.S. high school diploma. The 2026 cohort attended sample classes of university courses, received advice on applications, and participated in budgeting workshops designed to provide a glimpse of student life.
For many, it was a chance to meet new people and learn what the future could hold, said Ola Oriekun, who was part of last year’s cohort and has returned this year to share his experience with new students. “It just really reaffirmed to me that university is the place where I belong.”
Opening horizons
The four-day course, run by London’s widening participation team, aims to reach students who are underrepresented in higher education, including refugees, students who have spent time living in care homes, and students who attend public schools in economically disadvantaged areas. Of the 64 students at this year’s course, 80% met these widening participation criteria, which seeks to ensure that university is accessible to everyone, regardless of their background.
Al-Maaytah said he enjoyed discussing options with students, including those in STEM subjects that he studied at university. “It was amazing, talking to the students, they want to do all sorts of things: engineering, law, computer science,” he said. Al-Maaytah recalls being in their shoes not too long ago – prior to his engineering degree, he was a student at a west London school – and now he aims to give them “the kind of guidance I wish I’d had,” he said, including a passion for engineering.
Each student made a keychain with a 3D printed Northeastern fob and a plaque, laser-inscribed with their names. But Al-Maaytah aimed to show how these skills, along with electrical engineering skills, can combine to make sophisticated technologies. In the makerspace on the top floor of Northeastern University London’s Portsoken House, he showcased an aquatic drone, a braille-writing machine and a talking robot, all made by first-year students but demonstrating advanced skill levels, he said.
Other events included academic taster sessions in philosophy, psychology, business and law.
“I think my favorite part was taster lessons,” said Selwa Abedi, from Paddington Academy school in west London. These gave her “a clear insight on each subject,” including ones she hadn’t had the chance to take at her school, such as psychology. In a short session with Suparna Bakaya, professor of psychology at Northeastern University London, she found herself fascinated. “Now I want to do the A-level,” she said.
Editor’s Picks
Entrepreneurship challenge
On Friday, the summer school concluded with an entrepreneurial challenge, which brought together students from different schools to identify a problem in their local areas and outline a solution.
Students tackled issues including the lack of air conditioning on London’s sweltering public transport, the absence of places where young people can meet, and the underrepresentation of women on science and engineering courses. “They caught the social issues they face today and those that they’ll consider in the future: safety, employment, development, housing, budgeting,” said Dewale Dimeji, careers and experiential learning specialist at Northeastern University London.
Dimeji and Paul Richards, Northeastern University London’s director for academic services, chose to give their top award to Map Side, which proposed an app that could connect young people with safety hotspots in their community, including well-lit streets to walk at night and places where they can find people trained in first aid.
“It was so refreshing to see so many not-for-profit organizations and businesses being presented,” said Richards. “I think it really speaks to this generation – that they care about their community and the people around them.”
At the end of the four days, students’ families were invited to join them and see the campus. Trang Hua said the summer school had taught her eldest son valuable skills for the next stage of life. He would be leaving with new friends and a new perspective, she added. “He didn’t want to go to university and I think this has sold it to him,” said Hua, who added that she hopes Northeastern has the program when her younger son is also preparing to leave school.
Northeastern Global News, in your inbox.
Sign up for NGN’s daily newsletter for news, discovery and analysis from around the world.
