Engineers Week 2017 kicked off on 4th March and Mergon International took part in a number of outreach events to mark the week, to inspire the next generation of engineers and show how exciting a career in engineering can be.
Mergon International took part in three main events:
St. Michael’s Primary School Site Visit
On Thursday March 9th we hosted 30 children aged 10 to 12 years old from St. Michael’s Primary School. Much fun was had during our interactive presentation, where they learned about Mergon, what we do, how we do it and about some of the Engineers who work here. Aisling Nolan, General Manager expertly fielded questions ranging from ‘Do you know my Dad, he used to work here?’ to ‘How much would all of Mergon cost to buy?’!
This was followed by a tour of the Machines in Plant 2 where the children got to experience Machine 54 from on top of the steps, it thrilled and amazed them. They also saw moulds being made in the MiCentre, video conference called Zdenek and Eva in Mergon Czech to ask them what they do and have a look at the weather over there. The training room tour was also a big hit where the children got to experience the training tools we use and choose a group representative to take part in the dexterity challenge. The times were given at the end of the tour and a little girl called Jessie Ginnell was declared the winner. The children enjoyed some snacks and went back to school a happy little bunch with the highlight of our morning being when one of the children asked Aisling if we did birthday parties!
‘Making it in Manufacturing’ – An Education & Training Board Initiative
Aisling also went to visit the ETB Centre in Athlone to deliver a presentation on Mergon and working in manufacturing. The course purpose is to assist job seekers in learning about manufacturing and the processes involved in order to gain employment. Aisling spoke to the group about important requirements in becoming a production operator, what it is like to work in manufacturing, what Mergon’s expectations are and our recruitment processes including our application forms. There was a question and answer session afterwards also.
St Joseph’s School Rochfortbridge – Engineering Class Site Visit
On Friday March 10th, we hosted 5th and 6th years from Rochfortbridge secondary school. They learned about our processes, product development and career opportunities in the area of Engineering. Mergon Engineers and former Apprentices Eoin Nugent and Colm Dardis who are past pupils lead the factory tours along with other Mergon guides and refreshments were served before the groups headed back to school.
The week was a great success and thank you to all who were involved and helped in any way.
