RAE

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 →

Read the full report This was a themed zone funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Grant. Sarah works for Rolls-Royce designing parts for aeroplane engines, Masha is a research student working out how to make jet engines use less fuel and Mark simulates Formula 1 and Formula E racing cars to predict the best design for each race. Leon is working to make the oil used in motors more efficient, Dominique develops software for motor control systems and Andrei works for Jaguar Land Rover making sure cars are being built correctly. This was a busy zone that had a high amount of questions asked by students, with lots of interest in cars, planes and engines. All of the engineers were great at answering questions clearly and informatively with Leon, Mark and Sarah making up a majority of the activity by engineers across the two weeks.

Read the full report The Apprentice Zone was funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Grant, and included two current apprentices as well as three engineers who all got into engineering through an apprenticeship scheme. Ronnie works for Yorkshire Water building reservoirs and laying pipes for drinking water, Rich (the winner of this zone) is an electrical engineer who works to ensure a building is safe and suitable for the people in it and Krishma is a current apprentice with VINCI Construction working on the Crossrail west station upgrade projects. Daryl is a software engineer who creates websites and Anya is also a current apprentice with VINCI helping to build a waste recovery park which will turn dustbin waste into electricity. This zone had a higher percentage of active students than average across the whole of the event with 93% of all students who logged in engaged with the … Continue reading →

Read the full report The Kilogram zone was a general engineering zone, funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Grant. Yip is the UK Transport Operations Manager for Amazon, Jarrod works for a materials science company researching how to make everyday objects from rocks and crude oil and Iona designs machinery that helps provide safe food worldwide. Eloise is a PhD student researching how to build big systems, like cities, that can survive unexpected challenges in the future, and Adam is a roboticist working on a large military communications project. Eloise took part in the final two days of the event from Glastonbury Festival, and Jarrod took part from Mexico and California, where he was travelling for work. This resulted in lots of conversation about travelling, and more personal questions about the engineers’ hobbies and interests, making the atmosphere within the live chats and ASK section friendly and relatable.

Read the full report This was a themed zone funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Grant. Stephen researches how to build supermarkets from more environmentally friendly materials, Natalie is a PhD student researching the behaviour of the ground when high speed trains pass over it in order to make sure trains can run at a high speed safely and Mark is a Senior Project Manager a company currently working on installing solar panels as the road surface. Jeni is a PhD student researching sustainable hydrogen production and Ashwanth works on a subsea construction boat in the North Sea extracting fuel from below the seabed. The zone was fairly active, and the engineers were all good at engaging with students through ASK and the live chats. The engineers each attended a good number of live chats, and continued to take part even if they had already been evicted which … Continue reading →

Read the full report The Aerospace Zone was a themed zone funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering. Michael is a Senior Lecturer in aerospace engineering who researches ways to calculate noise in order to design quieter engine systems, Kirstin designs software which is used in military planes and helicopters and John is a Professor of Automotive Engineering who specialises in turbocharging. Chris works on the Exomars project currently working on sending a rover to Mars, and Agata is a research engineer who develops aerospace assembly systems. This zone was one of the busiest in June’s event, with a higher than average number of questions approved and live chats booked. Chris and John, who came first and second respectively, accounted for over half of all answers and live chat by engineers.