Polymer Study Tour 2011, Residential Course for Teachers

After a “holiday” last year, the Polymer Study Tour returned to Scotland. This 3 ½ -day residential course for teachers was held at Edinburgh Napier University, 12 – 15 June. It attracted an interesting mixture of experienced teachers and student teachers of design & technology and science (chemistry), from as far away as Belgium and Germany but mainly from Scotland. The aim of exposing teachers to various aspects of the chemistry, engineering and design associated with plastics and rubber was well achieved through lectures and group discussions from Colin Hindle and his Napier team as well as guest lecturers ---

Diane Aston on 'IOM3 Schools Affiliate Scheme'. Colin Williamson on 'History of Plastics' and John Sale on 'Environmental Sustainability'. The last resulted in some controversy regarding plastics versus paper for shopping bags, but this was nothing compared to that generated by the Rocket Car Race. Four teams each constructed a rocket car from a PET bottle, vacuum formed chassis, extruded drinking straws, and injection moulded wheels. With a carpeted track this year it was a race always likely to be won or lost in the pit lane. Teamwork paid off and 2 teams were within 1 second of each other at 30 and 31 seconds. However, a stewards’ enquiry followed and a 3 second penalty was imposed for dangerous driving. The winning time was therefore 31 seconds which is respectable.

Equal enthusiasm was channelled into the hands-on practical sessions covering polymer processing and materials testing.

By the time they got to the SPRA evening lecture “Innovation in Plastics Design: What it Takes to Win the Horners' Award”, delivered by John McLoughlin, they were already tired. So much so in fact that their heads were down looking at the Edinburgh kerbs as they made their way back to Pollock Halls.

An early start on Tuesday morning was negated by the Edinburgh traffic and the group was behind schedule on arriving at the first of three polymer companies, Carron Phoenix.

Here they learned about the history of the Carron Company and saw some of its cast iron products such as canons and red pillar boxes. Ian Hunter’s presentation continued to the present day with the chemistry and moulding technology to produce high quality acrylic composite kitchen sinks. In the tour that followed, this introduction proved invaluable as the group followed the process.

The second company visited was Ineos at Grangemouth where David East led a guided tour of the Exhibition Centre informing the group about the history of the site from shale oil production in West Lothian to the current oil and gas pipelines feeding into, and exporting from, Grangemouth. The downstream chemicals and polymer production was therefore seen in its context as an integrated site. It was surprising that even amongst the Chemistry teachers, who teach this topic in school, very few had ever been to a chemical site before. For the Design Technology teachers this was uncharted territory and they learned new language such as “cracker”. The tour of the site was conducted around the perimeter roads with Bruce Farquhar acting as our bus tour guide. Concentrating on gas phase polyethylene (HDPE and LLDPE) manufacture on the PEX plant and polypropylene homopolymer and copolymer on the PP3 plant, our tour guide emphasised the scale of polyolefin (sorry polyalkene) production.

After failing to infiltrate Linlithgow, on what it transpired was the day for the riding of the marches, the group eventually abandoned thoughts of lunch and arrived early at Carclo Technical Plastics, Harthill. Here Gary McKay and his team lead tours of the facility, during which they collected samples and took video clips of production. Luckily our small coach had a large boot.

That evening the teachers were at last able to relax at the course dinner, which was also attended by representatives of SPRA. The chief guest and after dinner speaker was Georgina Scott, Upper Warden of the Worshipful Company of Horners, the main sponsor of the Polymer Study Tours.

On the final day plastics identification was first on the agenda, followed by more time in the polymer workshop and advanced materials centre to “make and break”. The afternoon session included a lecture by Neil Shearer on Composites in Sport.

Once again SPRA sponsored two delegates, both Design & Technology teachers, Mrs Margaretann Mears, from Eastwood High School and Mr Christopher Sim, from Graeme High School. Companies are urged to consider investing £750 in sponsoring a teacher, perhaps from a local school, for the 2012 Polymer Study Tour.

Report by Colin Hindle, SPRA Education Officer, June 2011

For details of enrolment and sponsorship for Polymer Study Tour 2012 contact Colin Hindle C.Hindle@napier.ac.uk

Polymer Study Tour: A Teacher's Perspective

I wasn’t sure what the Polymer Tour had in store for us as we arrived at Napier, and the lines of black plastic suitcases in the lecture room didn’t fill me with hope! The mood soon changed however, when our first lecture started: Diane Aston from the Institute of Materials, Mining and Minerals, who was incredibly enthusiastic about her subject even when handing round plastic hip joints and eye lenses. We then looked at the history of plastics, with an insight into the Worshipful Company of Horners, our sponsors for the course. After a strongly contested result from the Rocket Car Race (a camera finish was requested), we set off for a curry courtesy of a local restaurant.

The next three days were spent in a whirlwind of lectures and practical work. Edinburgh Napier University kindly let us loose in their workshops, and for me this was one of the most beneficial parts of the course. I got the chance to try processes for myself which I had only read about in books, and I feel this will be a great help when explaining them in the classroom. We had many interesting lectures, ranging from the amazing Durakerb® experiment at the Scottish Plastics and Rubber Association evening meeting – the sledgehammer test was very impressive! – to more controversial speakers who challenged our ideas about plastics and the world of recycling.

A whole day was devoted to factory visits. It was great to get an insight in to what the companies are doing and the industrial processes and machines they use, and the large bags of freebies that we all managed to scrounge will definitely be useful teaching aids, or are currently on eBay!
It was interesting to meet the other participants, and work with teachers from different subjects and areas. The course dinner at Abden House was a lovely evening and a great chance to speak to some of the people who had made it possible for the course to take place. I enjoyed the course immensely and Colin Hindle led the Tour very well, supplying us with great information and resources for the future.

Report by Jasmine Woodcraft, SPRA Student Teacher Member, June 2011