Cummins at the READY to help tackle the education crisis
Cummins is working to help address the worldwide education crisis with the launch of a global strategy to encourage STEM learning and associated skills in communities the company touches from childhood to adulthood.
Cummins READY aims to empower one million learners and workers in communities where its employees live and work by the year 2030.
In addition to partnering with local schools, new partnerships have been developed that are designed to promote educational excellence from pre-kindergarten through post-secondary and workforce training.
In Europe, Cummins is partnering with STEM Learning UK and the Scientix STEM Alliance. Over the next two years, these organisations will provide high-quality STEM learning experiences, impacting more than 70,000 students.
Education is one of Cummins’ three global priority areas for community engagement. Danette Howard, Global Education Director - Corporate Responsibility at Cummins, said there are around 600 million young people around the world struggling to reach basic levels of proficiency in mathematics and reading.
Jonathan Wood, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at Cummins, said the most exciting aspect of Cummins READY is the scale of its ambition.
“We’re going to show learners what they can achieve in STEM and the great opportunities available in STEM careers while bringing a diversity of talent into the industry,”
When launching Cummins READY, Jennifer Rumsey, Chair and CEO of Cummins Inc., said “I had someone recognise my strength in mathematics and encourage me to explore engineering. That small but impactful encouragement set me on a course that led me to where I am today.”
“Cummins READY is a way for us to do that at a bigger scale. It will empower others to learn, grown and expand what they think is possible for themselves in their future.”
Reinforcing Cummins’ commitment to community engagement, Jennifer Rumsey said the expertise of the incredibly talented Cummins workforce would be on hand to inspire students and bring STEM learning to life, along with opportunities for up-skilling and re-skilling for those already in the workforce.
STEM festivals work their magic on children
More than 6,700 schoolchildren took part in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) festivals and events sponsored by Cummins and held in partnership with local businesses and community partners across Europe.
The activities, aimed at children aged 9-13, were supported by more than 250 Cummins employees, volunteering around 3,000 hours between them.
Aimed at encouraging children to pursue a career path rooted in the STEM subjects, the event introduced basic design and engineering concepts and let pupils find out about the work of companies operating in the region and related careers.
At STEMFest in the English region of Yorkshire and Humber, which was coordinated by the Yorkshire and Humber STEM Hub and delivered by RTC North over three days, schoolchildren saw a Cummins QSK95 engine made of Lego and a Dodge Ram pick-up and were introduced to the principles of power, design, weight, problem-solving and assembly through paper straw rockets and rubber band cars.
The largest of the European STEMFest events was held in Sunderland, northern England where around 3,000 children took part over three days. Another STEMFest was held in Darlington, sponsored by Cummins together with other leading STEM companies.
In Izmir, Cummins Turkiye supported a STEM club program arranged by Kontak Innovative Learning Centre for 50 girls from a local secondary school.
The specially devised workshop program involved mentoring from Cummins employees and stretched over 60 hours. It concluded with a ‘tournament,’ presenting awards for best programming, best engineering, best strategy and most consistent performance.
In Craiova, Romania, a STEM Fair took place in partnership with Anya Foundation, Youth for European Society and a local technical high school, engaging 120 children for a full day of STEM experiments and learning.
In Poland, the Cummins business has been working closely with high schools and technical universities to organise technical lessons for school students to help with their STEM learning. The sessions have helped promote career opportunities at Cummins’ recently opened Master Rebuild Centre in Krakow.
Jonathan Wood, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at Cummins, said: “Our commitment to STEM education and outreach is central to our core values at Cummins, and we believe it is vital to building a sustainable future.”
Cummins and Natuurpunt team up on Belgian wetlands project
As we approach World Water Day on March 22, a community-supported initiative to restore 345 hectares of wetland around the Belgian city of Mechelen is making great strides.
Cummins is working with Natuurpunt to restore the wetlands at Mechels Broek and Den Battelaer nature reserves which form part of the Rivierenland Nature Park.
The project, launched on last year’s World Water Day, will support biodiversity and carbon capture and help Cummins as it strives to meet its 2030 goal of being net water positive in each region it operates.
That goal is part of the broader Cummins Planet2050 ambition and will follow the Cummins Water Works (CWW) agenda of working with experts to create projects around the world to improve water quality, water quantity and access to WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene).
The Mechelen project is part of the European LIFE project Wetlands4Cities, in which multiple partners are committed to making nature around cities climate-proof.
Natuurpunt is placing small weirs on some canals that will allow more water to be retained and combat potential drought.
An existing solar-powered pump ensures excess water from the Dyle can flow into the area. One more will be added in the long term to combat the acidification of the soil.
Visitor experience and education capabilities have also been enhanced by the project, with plans for the creation of a unique hide at the nature reserves, allowing people to look underwater. In time, there will also be a wet-foot trail created on-site.
Cummins volunteers will be supporting preparations for the wet-foot path work, native planting, educational activities and beyond.
This article is part of the 2025 Edition Cummins Europe Magazine, to read more European articles click here: