ADVANCED MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGIES

The last few decades have seen a rapid acceleration in the development and uptake of smart products and semi- intelligent devices and objects. The barrier to entry has also come down and it is now quite possible for medium sized firms to launch satellites into space using rockets of their own design and manufacture. This was once the realm of sovereign states or even multiple countries due to the cost and complexity.

A great deal of this innovation has been driven by the constant improvement and miniaturisation of control systems. Most primary school learners have used mini computers such as the Raspberry Pi™ and in 2015 all UK Year 7 learners were given their own C micro:bit computer to use. The increasing access to these powerful and easy to use control devices has opened up a huge number of possibilities for companies to explore industries from rocket science to artificial intelligence and school learners are in an excellent position to follow closely behind.

The object of this qualification is to introduce KS4 learners to this fast-moving world and equip them for jobs in these industries in the near future. The learners will learn how to build and fly rockets, how to build some objects to go into those rockets, such as microsatellites. They will explore artificial intelligence and look at the issues surrounding the making and use of unmanned vehicles.