What’s all this about £500 prize money?

What is the money for?

The £500 is to be spent on a project that engages school students or the general public with engineering. This means telling anyone who isn’t a professional engineer about engineering, and helping them to engage with the subject.

There is a vast range of projects you could use the money to fund: visiting schools, creating a website, taking an exhibit to a festival, making videos or podcasts, putting on a show… The possibilities are endless; use it for any form of communication you can imagine.

Some previous examples from I’m an Engineer include:

  • Buying Raspberry Pis and going into primary schools to train STEM club teachers in coding
  • Running a competition for school pupils to build model wind turbines and funding a trip for the winners to the Shard in London
  • Developing a hands on model of pumping systems to take around local schools
  • Setting up a website that provides free resources for teachers about engineering
  • Travel expenses for visits to schools, or school visits to engineering firms

Check out how past winners have spent the money at: about.imanengineer.org.uk/category/prize-winner.

How do I tell I’m an Engineer how I’ve spent the money?

We give out thousands of pounds in these small engagement grants; we need to be able to account for the money, and tell our funders where it’s going.

Keep in touch, let us know how your plans for the money are coming!

Once you’ve spent it, write us a brief report for us to post on our blog (about.imanengineer.org.uk/category/prize-winner) to update the students on how you’ve spent your winnings. A good report might include an idea of how and why you chose your project, how the money helped or made it possible, and what the outcome was. Did you learn anything? Who was your audience? Do you think the project was a success? Has it inspired ideas for future engagement?

Some examples of I’m an Engineer winners reports are Mark Greaves, Andy HearnJames Vokes & Robin Stafford-Allen.

Please also include a basic breakdown of how you spent the money, such as:

  • £200 Buying video equipment
  • £50 Travel expenses
  • £250 Editing the video

Please email your updates and reports to Antony (antony@gallomanor.com).

When do I have to spend the money?

You should aim to spend the money within a year of winning. After 6 months we’d like you to have a firm plan of how you’ll be spending it.