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Today we had our first 3 I’m an Engineer live chats in the Environment Zone, and students were keen to ask the engineers lots of questions about what they do, both at work and in their spare time. From Olympic venues to engineering-related TV and work trips abroad, our engineers managed to keep up with the fast moving conversations. Did you know… Engineers can be pretty useful for sports: ginger : would your work have anything to do with under pitch heating. I support liverpool nicolalazenby : Yes!! my research can be applied to pitch heating! you can put ground source heat pumps under a football ground carpark and then use it to defrost the pitch when it’s frozen! A career in engineering can include some interesting trips abroad: putpmar24 : what do you enjoy the most about your job? keithbeattie : I also get to travel to our other … Continue reading →

First live chats next week! The fun starts on Monday when the first live chats will take place, but there are already lots of questions queued up for the engineers to answer in ‘Ask’. We’re looking forward to hearing more of the students’ questions – let’s just hope the engineers are ready to answer them! Take a look… Aerospace engineer Ed has uploaded lots of helicopter pictures, and if he won the money he’d spend it on 3D printing lessons What do you get if you cross a chicken with a cement mixer? A brick layer! says Geordie engineer Nicola And Tish from the Environment Zone wants to make bamboo buildings at science festivals Don’t forget to take a look at the other engineers’ profiles here. Chats booked and ready to go Live chat bookings have been coming in thick and fast – it’s definitely going to be a packed two … Continue reading →

I’m an Engineer event is just around the corner, so it’s time to announce the engineers and schools taking part. The event will be running from 11th-22nd March, which will be running alongside the March I’m a Scientist event. Schools There are 11 schools involved, lots of whom took part in the first ever I’m an Engineer event last March. Teachers last March found it opened their students’ eyes to what engineering really is, and in some cases the possibility of studying engineering. “The biggest plus for me was one of my pupils coming up to me three days later and saying ‘I’m going through my options sheet at the moment and I’m interested in engineering’ and you think ‘we’ve won one!’” Engineers Choosing the 5 engineers to take part wasn’t easy as there were lots whose work considers the environment – it’s a big part of engineering! Last March … Continue reading →

Just before Christmas we announced we’re going to run I’m an Engineer again this March. We’ve chosen a zone and are now looking for public engagement minded engineers to take part in the.. Environment Zone Almost every engineering project needs to consider the environment it is operating in. If that is your job then we want you to apply to take part. You could be a structural engineer who designs earthquake proof buildings; or a mining engineer figuring out how to minimise the impact of spoil; maybe you helped design the London Array. It’s a pretty broad theme. How to apply Engineers apply at imanengineer.org.uk/engineer-registration by Monday 4th February. Why take part? If you get any joy from explaining the world, or think you might have some aptitude for it, then don’t hesitate to apply! For the sake of a couple of weeks with a little extra work-load, the experience is … Continue reading →

To all the schools and students who took part in I’m an Engineer 2012, First of all – THANK YOU! I never thought I’d win when I entered and it’s a huge honour to have been voted for by so many of you! I hope I – and my fellow engineers – have given even just a few of you a little inspiration to go out and discover the big pile-of-awesome that the world becomes when looked at through engineering and science. I’m delighted to hear that you all had such a splendid time, but I don’t believe for second that you enjoyed it more than I did! The live chats rapidly became the favourite part of my day and all my lunches and coffee-breaks were spent answering questions. The only problem I’ve had has been coming up with a plan for the prize that would do justice to the … Continue reading →

It’s been a very intense two weeks of animated live chats and thought-provoking questions, with lots of topical issues up for debate. Students and engineers have had over 80 live chats and engineers have answered nearly 1,300 student questions. The six winning engineers have made it through four nail biting rounds of evictions. Each student vote counted and in some zones the evictions came down to just a few votes. It’s time to reveal the winner in each zone. Congratulations to:  Zone  Winner  Where they work  Energy Zone  Robin Stafford Allen  Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (CCFE  Health Zone  Paige Brown  Louisiana State University  High Performance    Zone  Andy Hearn  Thales Avionics  Measurement Zone  Matt Maddock  STFC, Diamond Lightsource  Transport Zone  James Vokes  Thales UK  Water Zone  Chris Hill  British Antarctic Survey The winning engineers all receive £500 to spend on STEM engagement, and we can’t wait to see their wonderful ideas put into … Continue reading →