Our Mission Is to Inspire the Next Generation of Engineers

2018 Welcome 05 Inspiring the next generation 07 Spreading the word 13 Our mission Our resources go where we can’t 23 Measuring our impact: the Schools Project 33 The James Dyson Award 47 Overcoming financial obstacles 57 is to inspire the Supporting our commmunities 73 2019 vision 77 next generation of engineers. As a society, we are failing to help young people by not connecting the science, design, technology and maths they learn in the classroom with the exciting and important engineering problems and solutions in the outside world. Sir James Dyson Inventor 03 I joined the James Dyson Foundation achieving their potential. That’s why because I felt lucky to have accidently we also offer financial support for fallen into an engineering education, students, through bursaries and both at school and university. However, partnerships with top universities. so many young people miss out, as James feels strongly about giving they’re misinformed or, quite simply, young people a platform to develop not introduced to engineering as and commercialise new ideas. And a potential career at all. his international design competition, We continue to face a global shortfall the James Dyson Award, does just of engineers. Failing to address this that. It’s continuing to work with problem is expected to cost the UK more budding inventors – the 2018 economy alone £27 billion every year. competition was our biggest yet. Put very simply, we need more engineers. This report sets out some of the highlights That is why James set up the James and achievements from the James Dyson Dyson Foundation in 2002 – to combat Foundation’s year. We’ve worked with the shortage by inspiring the next some of the world’s brightest minds – generation of engineers. and we look forward to inspiring even more young people about the possibilities The James Dyson Foundation brings of engineering in the year to come. real-life engineering into the classroom through school resources and workshops. Lydia Beaton In 2018, we reached over 200,000 Global Head of the students through these programmes. James Dyson Foundation We want to empower young people to excel as engineers, and remove the barriers that might prevent them from 04 05 INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION The James Dyson Foundation works on a global scale to inspire young people about the exciting world of engineering. We work with primary school children through to university students and graduates, to ensure they have the knowledge and support needed to pursue their engineering ambitions. We also support medical and scientific research projects, and charitable causes that are local to Dyson. We work across 27 countries and regions globally, with a focus on the UK, US, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. We’re a registered charity, supported by Dyson and, to date, have donated over £60m to charitable causes. In 2018, the Foundation expanded the James Dyson Award – an international design engineering competition aimed at university students and graduates. We also ran an international school research project, in which we developed a new practical engineering curriculum and evaluated the results and findings. To support this, we invested in our digital platforms – launching new global websites to make sure our resources are widely accessible. Our total 2018 spend was £1.17m. 06 1 07 08 09 The James Dyson Foundation provides the mentorship, materials and money that budding inventors need, so they can get hands-on with problems, think laterally, and find solutions. To date, the James Dyson Foundation has donated over £60 million to charitable causes. 10 11 SPREADING THE WORD Engineering plays a central role in driving innovation, technological progress and economic growth throughout the world. Yet the gap between the demand and supply of engineers is widening in many countries. We believe that addressing this global shortage of engineers starts in the classroom. 212 13 We run rapid-prototyping workshops in schools and universities, which challenge students to think like engineers and turn their ideas into working prototypes. They are taken through the design process of mind-mapping, sketching, constructing prototypes and presenting their ideas – just like Dyson engineers. And who better to deliver this than our very own Dyson team? The James Dyson Foundation trains Dyson people to run the workshops, giving them the opportunity to have a positive impact in the community, and to act as role models to young people. In 2018, we ran 150 workshops with 400 Dyson volunteers, reaching 7,000 students. Working with the James Dyson Foundation has introduced me to lots of interesting, inquisitive young people. It’s really exciting being able to talk about the variety of activities I get involved in at Dyson. There are always one or two pupils in the room whose faces light up, realising this is exactly what they want to do for their career. They just didn’t know it was an option before. Dominic Dyson Mechanical Engineer 14 15 16 17 It’s great being able to Our volunteers also help us at ad hoc events throughout the year: break down pre-existing perceptions of what the In July 2018, 65 Dyson volunteers joined a challenge event at the Royal International term ‘engineer’ means, Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. They interacted and to promote problem- with over 6,000 young people across solving principles to three days. students of all ages. To celebrate Women in Engineering Day, some of our Noise and Vibration engineers I enjoy being able to go ran a workshop with female students from into schools and get kids schools local to Dyson’s Malmesbury HQ. excited about engineering. We also ran events at the Singapore Art It’s what I think was Science Museum, the SS Great Britain, Newbury Festival of Engineering and missing in school for me. the Dyson summer parties. Laura and Sam Dyson Design Engineers 18 19 20 21 OUR RESOURCES GO WHERE WE CAN’T In 2018, we helped to inspire over 200,000 students across the world about engineering – all through our free educational resources. 322 23 Our volunteers can’t visit every school, so we send Dyson resources out for free to teachers, and make them available to download from our website. The resources are based on Dyson’s approach to engineering. They focus on the process behind developing new products and the stories of our people. This way, we can give a true insight into the life of a working engineer. All our resources can be taught by non-specialist teachers, and contain lesson plans, Dyson machines and videos. We loan them to schools, managing the ordering process through our website. In 2018, we sent 2,000 resources out to schools across the UK, US and Japan. In 2018, the Japanese government’s Ministry of Education included our Engineering Box in their new study guidelines. They are highlighting it as an exemplary way to teach their new curriculum. 24 25 2624 2725 Challenge Cards The Design Process Box The Engineering Box Engineer stories and design icons The Foundation worked with Dyson We send this resource to primary schools This focuses on the Dyson DC39 vacuum We work to inspire young people engineers to develop challenges for six weeks, so they can understand cleaner and Tangle-free Turbine Head. about engineering by telling the stories specifically designed for children how the Dyson Air Multiplier™ fan Students take the machine apart (using the of engineers and iconic inventors. On our to try at home or in the classroom. works. The activity introduces students specialist screwdrivers provided) to better website, we explain key inventions – from The cards come in a pack of 44 to product design by challenging them understand how the technology works. the Great Western Railway, to windscreen and are distributed at events and to find inspiration in everyday objects, wipers. We also tell stories about our workshops. They were downloaded, and to use this inspiration to develop Dyson engineers. for free, 28,300 times in 2018. new ideas. 28 29 30 31 MEASURING OUR IMPACT: THE SCHOOLS PROJECT The Foundation believes that a Design and Technology curriculum based on iterative design and problem-led, project- based learning is more relevant and engaging to students. As a result, students enjoy D&T more and their perception of engineering improves – so more students opt to study D&T at GCSE and A Level. And, in time, more young people choose to become engineers. 32 33 Since 2002, The James Dyson Foundation The James Dyson has supported schools with engineering education resources. However, from 2012 Foundation project has to 2018, we ran a more formal research made me braver. I have project to test whether a problem-based, practical approach to engineering taken more risks by giving education in schools could encourage the students open-ended uptake of engineering-related subjects and increase awareness of engineering careers. briefs. It has made me really question what they are learning and why. Fiona England Head of Product Design, Wellsway School We partnered with several schools in Bath, Chicago and Tokyo, donated technical equipment, and worked with teachers on a new curriculum. International collaboration between the schools was also encouraged, with ‘global make-athon’ events. The largest of these research projects was set up in the UK. Here, primary and secondary students’ closest experience of engineering is through Design and Technology (D&T). However, nationally the outlook for D&T in schools is poor, with only 3% of GCSE exams taken being in D&T in 2017. 34 35 To test our hypothesis we began the project with five schools in Bath. We donated £75,000 to each school, which they matched with £25,000 of funding to create industry-standard lab spaces.

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