What Matt Maddock did with his prize money…

Matt was voted the winner of the Measurement Zone in 2012. Since then he’s been busy developing his project, and here he reports on his progress. 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. The money was used to buy a LEGO EV3 Mindstorms Educational set to take part in an educational outreach program run by some colleagues at Diamond Light Source. We’ve developed designs for a fully working diffraction interferometer made from the Mindstorms kit, but we needed the newest version of the LEGO to help test the current designs and develop them further. Here are some pictures of the current model and a few of its immediate predecessor in various states of completion and use. We’ve already been able to take the model out and about to show the public, including open days at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory … Continue reading

Posted on November 16, 2016 by ModShane in STFCWinner, Winner Reports | Comments Off on What Matt Maddock did with his prize money…

What Nicola Lazenby did with her prize money…

Nicola was voted the winner of the Environment Zone in March 2013. Nicola and two of her PhD colleagues run The Energy Community, a website raising awareness of how you can save money on your energy bills. The site aims to make energy advice simple and easy to understand, and also run energy workshops and support lessons in local schools. Nicola’s prize money was used to develop an interactive game on the site, ‘Energy Explorer’. In it you can explore the different rooms of a house, interacting with different objects and reading about how to save energy. Follow the Energy Community blog for more of Nicola’s work raising awareness about energy saving.

Posted on November 9, 2016 by ModShane in RAEngWinner, Winner Reports | Comments Off on What Nicola Lazenby did with her prize money…

What Naomi Green did with her prize money…

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. Each team is given a model of a “broken” femur bone, a design specification, and a budget for buying materials … Continue reading

Posted on October 26, 2016 by ModShane in Winner Reports, WTWinner | Comments Off on What Naomi Green did with her prize money…

What Will Scott-Jackson did with his prize money…

Will was voted the winner of Hospitals Zone in June of 2015. Here he updates us on what he’s been able to do with his £500 prize money since winning… My Year Since “I’m an Engineer…” As I bask in the glory of my victory just over a year ago; I stop and take stock. I reflect on all the ideas I had, promises and pledges made to invest the winning money wisely; and now today I reveal unto you the fruits of said labour! Let’s get real here, big projects don’t always go as planned. Plans change, tasks that seemed simple at first turn out to be gargantuan in nature and some ideas just don’t pan out. But luckily, my plans didn’t go ENTIRELY terribly, some good progress was made and I have some cool stuff to show for it. Without further ado, here is what I have been up … Continue reading

Posted on August 11, 2016 by ModShane in Winner Reports, WTWinner | Comments Off on What Will Scott-Jackson did with his prize money…

June 2016 Winner Blogs

After every event we ask the winning scientists to write a short blog to be sent to all the students in who took part in the zone. It’s a great way for the engineers to reflect on the previous two weeks and thank all the students for voting for them.

Let’s take a look at what the June Winners had to say… Continue reading

Posted on July 6, 2016 by ModShane in Engineer Quotes, News, Quotes | Comments Off on June 2016 Winner Blogs

What Neil Taylor did with his prize money…

Last year, Neil was voted the winner of the Safety Zone. Here he tells us what he’s been able to do with his £500 prize money since then… It’s now been a year since I took part in the March 2015 I’m an Engineer Safety Zone.  Participating in the event was great fun, and it was a privilege to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) alongside Philippa, Pete, Paula and Matthew.  I also learned a great deal from the experience, so a big thank you again to all involved. Here’s how I’ve used the £500 prize money over the past year: I’ve brought together a team of 5 engineers from my company to design, create, and deliver a new, fun, STEM-based activity idea for students — a Puzzle Room.  The activity is designed to take around 30-45 minutes for a team of 5 students to complete, and features a series of … Continue reading

Posted on April 20, 2016 by ModShane in Winner Reports | Comments Off on What Neil Taylor did with his prize money…

What Stacey Cutten did with her prize money…

Stacey was voted the winner of the Apprentice Zone in March 2015. We caught up with her to see what she’s been able to do over the last year with her £500 prize money… On the 15th October 2015, I invited Year 8’s from the Cavendish School to participate in an engineering-based activity day. The day was split into 2 halves, 60 students participating in the morning session, and 60 students participating in the afternoon session. The activity programme was called Making Knexions, created by Young Engineers. It is a STEM programme that enables students of all abilities to explore and engage through hands on design and build activities. The particular session I chose to run was based on Wind Turbines. The aim of the session was to encourage students to work together to create a solution to a problem, to learn new skills and to learn about potential future careers in engineering. … Continue reading

Posted on April 6, 2016 by ModShane in Winner Reports | Comments Off on What Stacey Cutten did with her prize money…

March 2016 Winners

After each event we ask the winning engineers to write a short blog that is sent to everyone who took part in their zone. It’s a chance for them to reflect on their I’m an Engineer experience and thank the students for their questions and votes. Let’s take a look at what some of the winners from March’s zones had to say… Ross, Food Zone One of the questions I was asked the most is “what inspired you to be an engineer?”. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I grew up. Some people do, and that’s ok, but others don’t. My advice is to do something you’re passionate about and you’ll find something that’s right for you. Ryan, Fuel Zone I imagine from the student’s perspective it would have been difficult to ask questions in a face-to-face scenario like “How much do you get paid?”, “How does what … Continue reading

Posted on April 4, 2016 by ModShane in Event News, News | Comments Off on March 2016 Winners

Reflections on SME funding

As part of our funding agreements in recent years we’ve been trying to diversify our funding streams for I’m an Engineer and I’m a Scientist. Inevitably one suggestion for additional funding has been to approach companies employing engineers and scientists. The obvious first step was to approach those companies known to support STEM engagement. BP, Rolls-Royce, BAe, GSK, Pfizer, Thales etc. It wasn’t simple. Finding the right people at the right time wasn’t simple. Creating a proposition that worked for them wasn’t simple. It was put to us that these companies are constantly being asked to support projects and that we may have more success with SMEs. So we picked a few upcoming zones (Health, Space, Production and Energy) and set a researcher a task of finding 100 SME’s in each field where the CEO had given their contact details on their website. We figured that if they did that … Continue reading

Posted on January 13, 2016 by ModShane in Evaluation | Comments Off on Reflections on SME funding

November 2015 winners’ blogs

After each event we ask the winning engineers to write a short blog that is sent to everyone who took part in their zone. It’s a chance for them to reflect on their I’m an Engineer experience and thank the students for their questions and votes. Here is what the winners from November had to say… Stevie, Energy Zone The event was more fun than I could have wished for! The live chats were intense with a bombardment of questions for 30 minutes straight. My office mates can confirm that I may need a new keyboard now…it got a serious pounding over the last two weeks. I want to thank all of the students who asked questions in the chats and on the ASK part of the website, especially the ones that voted for me! I hope you got a lot out of taking part! Michael, Production Zone I will let you in to a little … Continue reading

Posted on December 15, 2015 by ModShane in Event News, News | Comments Off on November 2015 winners’ blogs