What happens when children’s imagination meets the technical skills of university students? The MyMachine project shows exactly that in practice. It connects ideas from primary school pupils with designs by university students and the skills of secondary school students. On 17 April, fourth-graders from Husova Primary School in Brno came to FME to see how their dream invention, Megatron, is coming along.

MyMachine brings together generations of young and older technology enthusiasts. Primary school children first draw their dream inventions, university students turn them into technical designs, and secondary school students then build working prototypes. In the Czech Republic, this is a pilot project involving 39 university students in eight teams, most of them from BUT.

In mid-April, one of these teams from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering welcomed thirty-six pupils and three teachers from Husova Primary School to the faculty. Together, they are working on a design called Megatron. “Our student Daniel Romanowski from the Lizzard Engeneers team showed the children how they had transformed their original idea into a specific technical solution, which is now ready to move on to the prototyping stage at a secondary school,” said Kamila Vymyslická, coordinator of FME’s cooperation with schools.

But the excursion programme was not just about presentations. “The children also got to try the practical side of engineering during workshops in MechLab and strojLAB, where they could experience the work of designers and technicians. And as is often the case, something unexpected caught their attention too – our historic paternoster lift was a big hit, and the pupils were thrilled to try it out,” Vymyslická added with a smile.

The next school excursion will arrive at the faculty on 6 May, when BUT will welcome pupils from Očovská Primary School in Hodonín. Together with another team, they will continue working on an invention called the Lunch Carrier. The MyMachine project is part of the broader Future Shapers initiative, which aims to encourage young people’s interest in STEM fields.