After nine months of workshops and training, Queen Mary’s Proud to be an Engineer project culminated with two successful events showcasing the diversity of ideas, expertise and backgrounds in modern engineering.

In 2023, the team from the School of Engineering and Materials Science applied to the Royal Academy of Engineering's Ingenious grant with a proposed vision to organise public engagement training for engineers who would like to inspire young learners.

The bid was successful, and the project was named Proud to be an Engineer. Alongside participants from across Queen Mary, participants joined the program from institutes across the country including UCL, Bristol University, Coventry University, Nottingham University and RAL Space at the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

Eight engineers from typically underrepresented backgrounds took part in two public engagement events designed to engage young learners from the east London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham, to tell their stories and inspire the participants.

On Wednesday 26th June, four schools came to Queen Mary University’s School of Engineering and Materials Science to take part in activities from building spaghetti bridges to engineering ice cream and communicating in space with lasers to flying gliders.

The school students also got a chance to drive a remote-controlled car with the Queen Mary Formula Student society.

On Saturday 6th July the engineers took their stalls and activities to Rich Mix in Bethnal Green for a free event open to the local community, introducing people to what engineering is – across industry and research.

More than 200 young learners registered to attend the relaxed event – they could arrive at any time and engage with the activities in their own time. On average attendees stayed for one and a half hours, and many of them asked if the event would happen again. Of those young learners who attended, 91% of them said they learnt something new about engineering, and 82% said they felt inspired to find out more.

Outreach and Recruitment Officer Michael Woolley, who led the project, said “It was a pleasure to work with such an interesting group of engineers who all had inspirational stories to tell. I really enjoyed helping the participating engineers bring their stories to life as they developed exciting engagement activities. It was lovely to see young learners engaging with the participating engineers at both events, discovering something new about engineering, and who engineers are.”