Wednesday 9 July 2025
UKNNL Supports Local Air Cadets in Robotics Challenge
Colleagues from United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL) have been supporting Whitehaven Air Cadets with their entry into a prestigious robotics competition. This partnership highlights UKNNL’s commitment to nurturing future talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), in line with its mission to support growth of the UK nuclear sector.
Jenna Ross and Ben Scott have been working alongside the Air Cadets, guiding young people aged 12-16 through the process of designing, building, and testing a robot for the Vex V5 Robotics Competition. This collaboration has provided the cadets with invaluable hands-on experience in engineering principles and problem-solving.
Jenna, a Scientific Apprentice at UKNNL said: “We wanted to create an environment where young people could apply theoretical knowledge to practical challenges. By introducing techniques like the ‘five whys’ methodology, we helped the cadets develop critical thinking skills that will serve them well in this competition and future STEM careers.”
The project involved comprehensive support with technical documentation and design diagrams, giving participants exposure to all elements of the engineering process. The cadets successfully designed and built a working prototype robot, which has already been tested in competition.
Mechanical Design Apprentice, Ben Scott, observed significant personal development among the participants: “Watching these young people discover their individual strengths was remarkable. They naturally formed an effective team structure with dedicated coders, builders, and designers. These collaborative skills are essential in any technical environment.”
The Air Cadets programme represents an important pathway for developing talent for both the Royal Air Force and the wider STEM sector. This initiative aligns with UKNNL’s commitment to supporting skills development in communities where it operates and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering, ensuring a strong pipeline of talent for the UK’s technical industries.
Commanding Officer, Warrant Officer Phil Barnard from 1030 (Whitehaven) Squadron Air Cadets said:
“As a squadron 1030 (Whitehaven) Air Cadets has recently been given the chance to take part in the Vex robotics competition. We felt this was a great chance to get the cadets get in robotics and programming. We reach out to United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory for some help. They very kindly not only supplied two STEM ambassadors, Jenna Ross and Ben Scott, but also brought us a robot so that the cadets could build and compete in the Vex competitions.
“Jenna and Ben work very closely with the cadets to help them develop their ideas, show them how to record their results and how to think about problems that they came across.
“The cadets took their robot to its first competition, and they did well. Even better was to see the work they had done with Jenna and Ben pay off and see the drive within the cadets to improve.”
