Xaar’s STEM learning day for local school

27 Year 6 students built a ‘balloon cars’ assisted by the Xaar team and then raced them.

This was the company’s second visit to Alconbury.

“It was amazing to go back to Alconbury primary school and to be part of such a fun and insightful day for the students,” said Xaar learning and development manager Helen Clifton. “STEM-related careers are key to our industry’s future. We hope that the event has inspired some of the young people by highlighting the exciting opportunities – we try to do as much as possible in the local area to find the engineers of the future.”

Called the XaarCar, the educational vehicle kit was designed in-house engineers in the Xaar STEM education team.

“A key aspect was incorporating 3D printed parts, all of which were printed on-site at Xaar,” Clifton told Electronics Weekly. “Students are encouraged to take part in the assembly – this can include using hand tools such as screwdrivers and pliers, as well as other methods such as soldering or gluing.”

After the student-assembled case were raced, the winner receiving a printed trophy (right).

“The students are very excited and curious about our 3D printing at Xaar – our 3D printed trophies never fail to impress,” said Clifton.

Xaar has fostered relationships with a number of local schools, colleges and educational charities through its programme of STEM and other events – here and here, for example.

Also “Xaar has run a weekly STEM after-school club at Stukeley Meadows Primary School for several years”, said Clifton. “This continues to be very popular, and we will continue to host the club in the next academic year.”

Xaar develops and manufactures industrial inkjet print heads for applications including graphics, package labelling, 3D product decoration, and the deposition of functional fluids and coatings. It has been operating for over 30 years and has around 300 patents.