• Question: What inspired this project?

    Asked by bethhayes to Ed, Keith, Tish, Nicola, Rachel on 12 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Nicola Lazenby

      Nicola Lazenby answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      The project I would spend the money on from I’m an Engineer was inspired by the people I speak to….I talk to a lot of people who ask what I’m studying for my PhD….When I tell them I’m a geotechnical engineer, they haven’t a clue as to what I do. I’m hoping that the £500 from the competition can enable me to set up a work shop to be ran in both schools and in the university so schools can visit. The workshop would cover all the interesting bits that aren’t heavily publicised! Things like how retaining walls work, why there are different types of foundations, and how we can take energy from the ground. Hopefully this will raise the profile of geotechnical engineers so at least people are aware of the considerations needed when designing a building, road, or any piece of infrastructure!

      I’d donate any left over money to the Sheffield branch of the charity Engineers without Borders – as I feel they do some very worthwhile outreach work – giving students and communities an idea of how engineering is applied in developing countries!

    • Photo: Natasha Watson

      Natasha Watson answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      Hey Beth, my project is inspired by the fact that even though I knew I wanted to study engineering my interactions with different building materials was limited. Through buying these materials and showing what can be done with them I hope that I can spread the message and spread awareness of green materials and how they can be used in the UK to reduce our carbon emissions and reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill. I’m going to use as much of the £500 to travel to as many schools as possible, but if there is some left over I’ll be donating it to RedR http://www.redr.org.uk/.

    • Photo: Edward Taylor

      Edward Taylor answered on 22 Mar 2013:

      Hmmm Im guessing this one probably isn’t for me! But in case it was, the Ministry of Defense asked for my project to be done! Chinook pilots were using very old controls and used paper maps, which was completely old fashioned considering the technology we had today. They therefore asked for what we call a “glass cockpit” which means its made up of screens instead of dials (like computer monitors) which display all the information the pilot needs, and effectively gives the pilot really good satnav!

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