Zone Reports

Read the full report The Millimetre Zone was a general engineering zone funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering, with six engineers working in a variety of areas: Vix designs water and sewage treatment centres Rhys is responsible for safety and technical management of the NATO submarine rescue system Josh designs and makes instruments used by scientists for precision measurements Demi, the winner in this zone, helps her company to win more work in the rail sector Clare looks after the blades of wind turbines Andrew is a project manager for Yorkshire Water Nearly two thirds of questions in this zone were about careers and education with students showing a real interest in the different career paths the engineers had taken, such as why Demi had chosen to give up being an athlete to become an engineer

Read the full report The Artificial Intelligence Zone was a themed Zone supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering. Rumman advises companies on ethical AI practices for Accenture, Pooja is a software engineer at Airbus Research currently developing a new search engine and Petros, the winner in this Zone, is developing software to help doctors and administrators in the NHS improve how they work together. Peppe is a PhD student working on software that instructs industrial machines to separate foods, Greg is a research associate programming robots that will help elderly people get dressed and Fran is a Product Analyst for a company building a chat bot for financial companies. There were some really interesting conversations in this Zone about the capabilities of artificial intelligence and how it might develop in the future. The variety of engineers meant that students got an insight into many different applications of AI. The … Continue reading →

Read the full report The Mole Zone was a general engineering Zone supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering, with six people working in different areas of engineering. Matt is a Process Safety Engineer assessing high hazard facilities, Lauren, the winner of this Zone, designs steam and water storage vessels installed in venues such as Wembley Stadium and Josh is a student in product design engineering. Jo works for Air Products separating air into different elements and then selling these onto customers as a gas or liquid, Diana is a telecoms engineer for satellite operator Avanti Communications and Carson is a student working with robots to help create scenes for virtual reality. As this was a general engineering Zone conversations were varied, and all the engineers were good at answering questions about their own work areas as well as about engineering in general. The majority of questions from students in … Continue reading →

Read the full report The Smart Materials Zone was a themed zone, funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Grant and involved six engineers working in different areas of materials engineering. Tony is a biomedical engineer inventing new medical devices, Stacey – the winner of this zone – develops new coatings for the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier deck and Niamh is a PhD student working with nano-materials to make a new kind of solar panel. Dimitrios works with transparent materials to make touch sensors and smart windows, Becky works for Speedo International designing textiles to be used in high performance sports and Alessandra is a simulation engineer creating virtual models of new car components to make sure they work before they go into production. The zone was busy in both ASK and the live chats, and although some students were unsure about what the theme of Smart Materials covered … Continue reading →

Read the full report The Candela Zone was a general engineering zone, funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Grant. Yetty is a PhD student researching how to bring faster data speeds to smart devices, Tom manages the training of engineers using underwater acoustic systems and Laura is a controls engineer for an Air Handling Unit manufacturer. Jack designs cryogenic tanks which store energy from cow poo, Gina – the winner in this zone – leads a manufacturing team that builds and tests video cameras and Chris is a PhD student using materials like graphene to treat degenerative diseases. All of the engineers were great at engaging with the students and Live Chats were very friendly and personable. There was a lot of interest in becoming and working as an engineer, as well as other STEM careers with students often asking for advice on certain career paths. Gina and … Continue reading →