2015

The Artificial Body Zone was a themed zone funded by the Wellcome Trust. It involved engineers who work with technology that could replace or support non-functioning body parts and organs, covering areas like jelly inserts for the spinal column, cochlear implants, and 3D printing bones. Topics discussed in the zone were a mixture of general discussion about engineering as a career and the work being done by the participating engineers. Lizzie, who won the zone, was very dedicated, only missing one live chat during the event. Download the full report

The Environment Zone was a themed zone funded involving engineers whose work impacted, or was impacted by, the environment. For example, Arshan studies how sewage systems cope under flood situations and Nicola models the National Grid’s gas network in response to changing demands. This zone had the most questions approved out of the June zones (349) and the live chats were busy throughout. Popular topics in the Zone were engineering as a career, women in engineering, and the work of some of the engineers, for example earthquake resistant buildings. Most of the engineers were very engaged, with Nicola in particular answering over 200 questions in ASK. Download the full report

The Hospitals Zone was a themed zone funded by the Wellcome Trust. The work of the participating engineers covered areas such as developing medical diagnostic machines, designing hospitals to be safe from fire and researching new ways of manufacturing medicines. The live chats were consistently busy and the ratio of questions approved to those submitted was above average. Engineering in hospitals was one of several themes amongst others, rather than the main focus of the Zone. Other themes were the appeal of engineering, subject advice, and the personal motivations and preferences of the engineers. The majority of the engineers engaged well in the Zone, and the top four answered a similar number of questions in ASK. Download the full report

This was a themed zone funded by the UK Space Agency and featured engineers involved in fields that developed technologies for space or used information from spacecraft. The students in the zone wanted to know about how the work of the engineers related to space and space travel, what engineering was like as a career and who the engineers were as people. Camilla, Katie and Rhys were especially engaged during the event, and all engineers interacted well with students, discussing shared hobbies and interests as well technical science and engineering questions. Download the full report

The Transport Zone was a themed zone where the engineers were all involved with helping things move, for example creating software to control huge ships, or designing more efficient combustion engines, or researching new materials to produce aircraft. It was the smallest of the March zones, with 186 students registering. Live chats were often relaxed and focused mainly on engineering as a career and the daily lives of the engineers. It was a competitive zone for the engineers, with the top three of Felicity, Peter and Olivia all engaging very well with the students. Download the complete report.

The Safety Zone was a themed zone which included engineers whose work improved the safety of different industries, for example in aeroplanes or the internet. This zone had the highest number of students taking part (520) of any I’m an Engineer zone run so far. It was the most active of the March zones in many measures, having double the average of questions asked, approved, and answered, and the most live chats booked. Neil, the Zone winner, did particularly well to hold the attention of students during solo chats. Overall, school activity was fairly even resulting in a very engaged zone. Download the complete report.