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And the winner of I’m an Engineer March 2013 is… NICOLA! We’ve had two great weeks – hope you’ve all enjoyed it! Well done to our 4 runners up, Ed, Keith, Tish and Rachel, who’ve also done a great job at answering your questions. 2 weeks, 5 engineers, nearly 400 students, 21 live chats, 160 questions and we’ve learnt loads about engineering and the environment – looking forward to the next event!

We’re coming to the end of I’m an Engineer March 2013, and we’ve just lost KEITH from the competition. With just one day to go there are only two engineers – Ed and Nicola – left in the running. Did you know… Nicola’s representing girls in engineering: wheele10 : how does it feel to be the only girl left nicolalazenby : I’m a bit sad I’m the only girl left….fingers crossed I can win to show that girls can be awesome engineers, and are just as good (if not better!!) than the boys jsutherst : ooh – love your answer to wheele10 Nicola. This class only has 4 girls and 20 boys (and a female teacher). Really wish more girls would take the engineering course nicolalazenby : being a girl in engineering is amazing – it’s a really cool job!! …And saving the planet while she’s at it: jamie14 : … Continue reading →

Another day, another engineer out, we’re sorry to say goodbye to TISH, the second engineer to leave the competition. Did you know… Not all helicopters can loop the loop: mitchellwallington : can helicopters do a loop the loop? edwardtaylor : yes helicopters can do the loop the loop, but only a few of them, not all. The Gazelle is a British army helicopter which is renowned for doing loops! Waste can be turned into energy: 7325dan : how do you turn waste in to energy keithbeattie : you can incinerate (burn) waste and use the heat to generate steam that can be used to power a generator. Or in a process called anaerobic digestion, compostable type waste ( food or plant material) is rotted down, producing methane gas (bio gas) as a byproduct and this can be used to power a boiler It’s probably best Ed doesn’t tell his boss … Continue reading →

Today we say goodbye to our first engineer – I’m sorry to say that RACHEL is now out of the competition (though we hope they’ll still join us for chats and answer some more questions in Ask!). Did you know… Triangles are stronger than squares: cmcgrath : Why are triangular shapes so stable? nicolalazenby : Triangles are so strong because the way they react to forces, a square for example can just get pushed over as when you push the top corner there is nothing to stop the frame from moving. a triangle however, if you push the point at the top, the side of the frame will pull it back whilst the other side of the frame will push it back….. I hope that makes sense!! Things you’re asking what is the difference between transparent soil or normail soil? Do you feel teachers should help you follow your dreams instead of … Continue reading →

Week 2 and the first eviction is tomorrow so now really is your last chance to get your votes in! Today’s environment chat included questions on carrot-powered cars and renewable energy. Did you know… Cars can (probably, indirectly) be run on carrots: mitchellwallington : Do you think that you can make a car run on carrots? natashawatson : cars running on carrots? they could probably; if you fermented the carrots you’d get alcohol and you can run a car on that. We’re already making use of energy from the core of the Earth: landrosa : do you think we will ever be able to reach the earths core and harness its energy? if so would it count as a renewable source of energy? nicolalazenby : We already use the earths core’s heat through Geothermal energy! You dig a big hole into the ground and pump water down it, this water then … Continue reading →

So it’s Friday and that means we’re half way through I’m an Engineer March 2013! Get ready for the evictions next week, starting at 3pm on Tuesday – don’t forget to vote to keep your favourite in the competition. Did you know… Nicola thinks dealing with global warming is all about energy use: jerry2k8 : Nicola, What is your view on global warming and how it should be dealt with? nicolalazenby : Global Warming is happened – that’s a fact! (Why else would we have snow in the spring!) I think dealing with it should be about getting people to use less energy and finding renewable sources for the energy we do use! And Keith believes young people should learn how to monitor how much energy they use: annamac : Why do you think it is important to teach children about energy monitoring equipment? keithbeattie : energy is invisible, by … Continue reading →

This week’s flying by and it’s been a busy day for Environment Zone chats. So what can we share with you?  Did you know… The reason humans don’t have wings: vanessasugar : why do animals have wings and but humans dont? edwardtaylor : people can fly! with the help of a few wings and engines. Without them we can also fly, but only downward. I think a good reason we never evolved to have wings is because we are too big! the albatross is the biggest bird in the sky and it can only just fly, natural things bigger than that would be too big and wouldnt be able to fly. The London Olympics were more sustainable than the Beijing Olympics: putplan02 : how did the london olympics compare to other cities in terms of sustainability? nicolalazenby : i did a project on this last year!!! London was amazing – they were so much … Continue reading →

Two more live chats in the environment zone today and we’ve had lots more great questions on everything from career paths to hobbies, helicopters to straw huts! Did you know… Ed stops helicopter controls melting: putpsim02 : how do you proof helicopter controls from extreme heat? edwardtaylor : good question! What we do during design is make sure we use materials that wont expand or contract too much due to the heat (and that definitely wont melt!). More complex electronics have cooling systems which pass cool air over the top of the electrical stuff to cool it down, and equipment that gets really really hot is cooled using water cooling systems!   By 2050 Tish wants everyone to know about building using natural materials: putptay09 : if you had your way hat year would you want all buildings to be made of a material other than bricks natashawatson : hmmm … Continue reading →

Another environment chat today, so what did we discover? Did you know… Engineers make models using 3D printers: jakemason1 : how often do you use 3d printing edwardtaylor : We use 3D printing at work sometimes to create a respresentation of an engineering system. For example the other day we used a 3D printer to make a little model of a ship radar to show a customer! It looks really realistic and doesnt take long at all to make Ground source heat pumps are a bit like fridges: michaelheston2 : how does your technology work? nicolalazenby : Like your fridge takes the heat out of food and kicks it out the back of it (check out the back of your fridge when you get home!) a ground source heat pump works by taking the heat out of the ground and putting it into your house Close to 100 questions approved … Continue reading →