Naomi was voted the winner of Health Zone in March 2015. Here she reports on how she got on using her £500 prize money over the last year.
If you’re an engineer who’d like the funding to develop your own outreach activities, apply for I’m an Engineer at imanengineer.org.uk/engineer-apply.
Taking part in and winning the Health Zone of I’m an Engineer was such an amazing experience! It was wonderful to talk to so many enthusiastic students and share my love of engineering and the research I do.
I spent my £500 prize money on developing a new workshop for secondary school students called the Accident and Emergency Engineering Challenge. The students work in teams to design, build and test a device for holding a broken bone in place whilst it heals.
How would you fix this faulty femur?
Each team is given a model of a “broken” femur bone, a design specification, and a budget for buying materials from a shop. They have to come up with four concept designs and work out how much each design will cost before choosing their final design. They can only visit the shop once to buy materials, which is a bit harsh, but demonstrates the constraints engineers sometimes have to work under.
After building their design each team has to present their device, before testing it to see if it can withstand the required loads. This is always a tense moment as the students see if their designs are going to break or pass the test!
I have delivered the workshop at local schools and events here at the University of Birmingham and each time it gets a really good response from students and teachers. I have also trained up a few colleagues to run the workshop so the equipment I bought is being well used.
Students work in teams to get to grips with their new devices
As well as the materials for the workshop I bought a couple of anatomical models to help demonstrate the need for my research. One of the models shows how intervertebral discs degenerate over time and how that affects the spinal cord and nerves nearby. Another model shows how arthritis in the hip progresses and what a hip replacement looks like.
My favourite is a section of the spine, which when you compresses it causes the inside of the intervertebral disc to bulge outwards, showing what happens when someone “slips a disc”. It is really realistic and everyone loves playing with it!
I am so pleased I won IAEGMOOH. It has given me the confidence to develop my outreach skills and take part in other events and activities. I now help to run BrumSciComm a network of science communicators in Birmingham, who all support each other to get out there and tell people how amazing science and engineering is.
I’ve also recently applied for funding for a public engagement grant which will combine my research with my love of singing. If we get the funding we will produce a new choral piece about the experience of having a joint replacement, which will be performed with visuals in the local planetarium. It sounds mad but I have faith it will be brilliant!
