Facebook welcomed 100 aspiring engineers from state secondary schools for a November 16 open day at its new offices in Rathbone Place, in partnership
with Primary Engineer Programmes.
Students were given the opportunity to hear from Facebook’s product teams about their career paths and the projects they are working on, from Oculus VR to AR camera effects.
The day also offered an opportunity for young people to say how they’d like to use technology to help solve a problem in their school or community, with the Year 9-11 pupils engaging in a series of workshops.
The social media giant also launched a new mentorship programme that will see 120 aspiring engineers from disadvantaged schools across London receive 1:1 mentoring from Facebook engineers, between now and June, in partnership with JUMP.
Engineering is a creative, trailblazing career that shapes the world around us, yet too many young people are in the dark about the opportunities it offers. Stephen Metcalfe MP
HM Government Envoy for the Year of Engineering, Stephen Metcalfe MP, greeted the students at the open day. He said: “Engineering is a creative, trailblazing career that shapes the world around us, yet too many young people are in the dark about the opportunities it offers. Leading technology companies like Facebook play a vital role in inspiring the next generation of engineers and innovators, and it is wonderful to see so many young people given the opportunity to discover first-hand what an engineering career could look like”.
Kyle McGinn, Director of Product at Facebook, said: “Supporting emerging STEM talent is something we are really committed to, which is why we’re pleased to welcome hundreds of aspiring young engineers at our offices and launch our mentoring programme. Facebook’s largest engineering hub outside of the US is based right here in London and our teams have worked on some of our biggest global innovations, including Oculus and Workplace. We’re proud to say we’ll be hiring hundreds more engineers this year as we continue to invest in the UK and, as we expand, we want to encourage the UK’s next generation of talent as part of our support for Year of Engineering and through our new mentorship program.”