BAE Systems Apprentices go ‘over and above’ for military patients
A team of apprentices from BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace) visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) for the Innovation Challenge Showcase to demonstrate their amazing work to a panel of judges and staff from the hospital.
QEHB Charity has been working alongside the brilliant engineering apprentices from BAE Systems to develop ideas and prototypes for therapy devices that could be used at the hospital to help treat and rehabilitate patients.
This year the apprentices have been working to address three challenges: a foot exerciser for patients who have a frame around their leg to help their recovery, a weight-bearing measure for therapists to use to encourage patients to bear weight on their feet as they recuperate, and a viscosity measure to help accurately gauge the required viscosity in drinks.
The teams, from across the country, proudly displayed their excellent work for staff from the hospital to see. The challenges were designed to test their engineering skills whilst also designing solutions that could have a practical application in hospitals and at home for recuperating patients.
Andy Wright, Strategic Technical Director at BAE Systems was present at the event to meet the teams and help to judge their creations, saying: “This showcase has been a fantastic exhibition of innovation and enthusiasm. BAE Systems is lucky to have such a talented and hardworking group of apprentices. Their work is of an exceptional quality and I am very proud of all of their fundraising efforts!”
Alongside their work, the BAE Apprentices have all been busy fundraising for Fisher House, the home away from home for military patients and their families at QEHB. The teams have been putting on events from band nights and mud runs to taking on the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge and pulling a Typoon aircraft up a runway!
Overall, the teams have raised over £10,000 which is being very generously match-funded by BAE Systems. Mike Hammond, Chief Executive of QEHB Charity said: “My thanks go to all of the fantastic apprentices from BAE Systems for their hard work in fundraising for Fisher House. It is only thanks to fundraisers that we are able to keep Fisher House open.
“It was inspirational to see the designs that the teams have made for the challenge. The designs that they have been working on have applications that could help to rehabilitate military patients staying at Fisher House. It is exciting to see the talent that these young people have and I look forward to welcoming the BAE Systems apprentices back to QEHB in the future.”
If you would like to find out more about Fisher House, or make a donation, please visit fisherhouseuk.org
The dedicated apprentices took on a range of challenges to raise money for Fisher House.
One of the many ingenius solutions that the teams came up with. This design allows patients to exercise their leg whilst it is in a frame.
