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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 →

We really enjoyed running I’m an Engineer in March and we want to do it again. So we will. From 11th to 22nd March 2013 we will get 5 engineers competing for the votes of secondary school students. We still need to decide the zone theme. Teachers, let us know what appeals to you. We’re also looking for someone to support the event, and a funding partner will help determine the theme. If you are interested please get in contact.  

A thought as I leave: there’s more difference between PR and PE than between science and engineering #eword — Steve Cross (@steve_x) October 25, 2012 The Royal Academy of Engineering hosted a day on October 25th about Engineering (the E word) Engagement. It was a very interesting day which left me with many challenges and thoughts. Just what you want from a seminar. The programme for the day consisted of two panel sessions in the morning, followed by an open session. After that we were treated to a series of 5 minutes briefings on past Ingenious projects and Mark Miodownik’s History of Engineering. I’m going to focus on the first three sessions: Is engineering engagement different from science engagement? Where are all the engineers? Open session: How do we tell what good engagement is? Is engineering engagement different from science engagement? There was a lot of crossover between the first … Continue reading →

We would like to congratulate the following students who have been named ‘student winners’ in their zones for the first ever I’m an Engineer event this March. The moderators thought there were good questions asked and really great engagement with the event. Zone Student winner School Energy tbonesteak Putney High School Health laceyc St Helen and St Katherine High Performance charlotte1999 David Young Measurement zoha Stockley Academy Transport branflakes123 St Paul’s Catholic College Water hannahgrimes Churston Ferrers Grammar School Well done to all the students above! They will soon be receiving their student winners certificates and WH Smith vouchers. We would also like to thank all the other students who participated. Everyone contributed to the brilliant live chats and really challenged the engineers with some interesting and thought provoking questions. As one engineer said “I have seen how enthusiastic and switched-on the students have been and amazed at the high … 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 →

It’s now under 24 hours until we’ll be announcing the zone winners! Today it was game over for one more engineer from each zone and the third set of engineers to go are: Becky in Energy Zone Jo in Health Zone Bill in High Performance Zone Steph in Measurement Zone Al in Transport Zone Jed in Water Zone We hope you’ve enjoyed taking part! Thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put into answering student questions and taking part in live chats. Lots of students don’t want live chats to end. One student said: “i dnt want this chat to finish pease stay for a bit loner”. Engineers don’t want the live chats to end either. Engineers are still answering the last student questions. In Measurement Zone Matt explains the difference between engineering and science, Paige and Martin in Health Zone explain how jumpers and hoodies can be … Continue reading →