Virtual inspiration for students

Erodex UK, a specialist in graphite and graphite machining for the aerospace industry, has launched an innovative virtual reality experience to inform and inspire engineering students at a local college towards a career in their industry.

Over a period of two days, team members from Wednesbury based Erodex ran four sessions for over sixty full time engineering students at City of Wolverhampton College.

The sessions were the first to include a new virtual reality experience, which enabled students to get a first-hand 3D insight into Erodex’s state-of-the-art graphite machining facility, hear from a range of team members and more broadly, gain an understandingof the variety of roles available at a company like Erodex.

The virtual reality experience was complimented by ‘meet the employee’ Q&A discussions including former apprentice and current Production Manager Ellie Emery, Engineer and Apprentice Mentor John Webb and James Kirk, Operations Director.

During the sessions, students were also set a task to complete in small groups with the aim of enhancing their learning experience and providing more depth to their level of insight into real world engineering. This required them to inspect several graphite machined electrodes using digital micrometers, comparing each to the kind of exacting quality standards that apply across all components produced for the aerospace industry.

Students were then informed of the apprenticeship roles available this summer at Erodex, with those interested in learning more being invited to apply for work experience placements with the company.

James Kirk, Operations Director at Erodex said: “Like so many engineering firms Erodex are looking to the next generation to future proof our workforce. 2023 sees the relaunch of our apprenticeship scheme, something which we are committed to making sure is best in class.

“We want the best young engineering talent to aspire to work for us and we understand that for that to happen we need comprehensive local outreach to raise our brand awareness as a good employer and a top choice for engineering apprenticeships. 8 erodex.com