DYSON engineers were left mightily impressed by the ingenuity and enthusiasm shown by John of Gaunt pupils who were treated to a creative workshop on Thursday.

Graduate mechanical engineers Seb Leonard and Sally Thomas spent a couple of hours at the Trowbridge school with Year 8 pupils, who had to come up with air-powered home appliances.

Between the groups of pupils, they came up with curling irons that use steam to stop hair getting singed, extractors that blow out flowery scents and bins with fans in them to make bags easier to pull out, among other ideas.

After that they did drawings of their designs, used various bits of equipment to bring it to life and did a presentation on how to take it forward.

“We were really pleased and impressed with their attitude and application. They really got stuck in,” said Ms Thomas.

“They asked intelligent questions and were eager to learn. I think there could be a few engineers coming out of John of Gaunt, going by the enthusiasm they showed. There were a lot of talented pupils in that class.

“It was good to see the girls really getting into it too as boys tend to do engineering more than girls do. It was a pleasure for us to come down, and when you see them thinking as a team, being creative and wanting to learn more, it makes it easy for us.

“It is important to get them engaged and not drone on too long so we got them doing stuff quickly so that they could have a fun, productive lesson and I think it worked.”

In the engineering duos introduction, they were told about the importance of not being afraid to make mistakes, as without failure, you cannot improve as well.

“James Dyson’s first invention was actually a sea truck, followed by a wheelbarrow with a Dyson-type ball. He made a total of 5,127 prototypes with his vacuums. He was not afraid to learn from his mistakes,” said Mr Leonard.

Careers advisor Amy Lynch said: “This is a good way to encourage them to think about careers in engineering and STEM subjects. These workshops are very engaging and active classes that require teamwork and pupils working together.

“They were very excited by it all and Seb and Sally were very good. It was very interesting and fun for everyone involved.”