If You Were An Engineer What Would You Do Competition

Sparking a Passion for Engineering: How Civil Aviation Authority Role Models Ignite Young Minds

Many engineers find their path thanks to inspiring figures in their lives. But what about children who lack such role models? This lack of guidance, combined with a limited understanding of what engineers do and the field’s lack of diversity, creates a significant challenge. Without exposure to engineering, the talent pool shrinks, hindering the industry’s ability to attract future innovators.

Primary Engineer brings engineering to life in classrooms across the UK which are designed to engage both teachers and pupils in significant ways by creating meaningful connections between engineering principles and real-world applications.

Primary Engineer facilitates connections between these companies and schools, facilitating meaningful engineer engagement. This exposes pupils to a world they might not have known existed, empowers them to ask questions that truly resonate with them and gives them a role model, after all pupils can’t be what they can’t see. This shatters pre-conceived notions about what engineering is and what engineers look like. This not only benefits companies by creating a talent pipeline, but also exposes young minds to the exciting world of engineering right on their doorstep, potentially inspiring future careers.

One company in particular who has embraced these opportunities is The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) who have partnered with Primary Engineer since 2021 to inspire pupils in Lancashire and South East England through the Leaders Award competition. The CAA’s involvement has allowed them to showcase the exciting world of engineering within aviation and aerospace to a wide range of age groups, dismantling misconceptions about careers in this field.

‘Partnering with Primary Engineer allows us to inspire the next generation of innovators by bridging the gap between education and industry. Together, we empower young minds to explore engineering, fostering creativity, problem-solving, and the skills that shape a sustainable future.’ Brenda Jefcoate – CAA STEM Lead

Engineer engagement began with Stuart, a Radio Engineer from the Civil Aviation Authority, creating an on-site video highlighting his work, which was given to all participating schools to use as a resource at the early stages of the competition, resulting in 270 pupils using this as their engagement and over 60 pupils listing Stuart as their Inspiring Engineer. A Year 2 pupil at River Mill Primary School named Stuart as their Inspiring Engineer and went on to be one of this 2023-2024 competition winners for that year group and area of the UK!

Five of the Civil Aviation Authority’s engineers brought engineering into the classrooms of the South East region and interacted with over 980 pupils at the early stages of the competition as they prepared to identify problems that they’d like to solve.

‘I like judging entries as well as doing the initial sift, but the sifting is my favourite part. It is so exciting, because you have no idea what is going to jump out and catch your attention, coming from a young person’s imagination. I remember the first time I did a sift, a creation from a young Scottish girl was so well drawn, I loved it. It was totally impractical, a bug and animal house, with natural predators living together, but it stood out from the crowd, and I loved it, so I placed it in the ‘winners’ pile. I didn’t expect to ever see it again, but later in the year I attended the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) to do a STEM talk with colleagues, and all of the countries chosen winners were on display. I walked around to look at all of the brilliant ideas, and there was the bug and animal house! I couldn’t believe it, so much so that I laughed out loud with joy. Whoever had judged the sifted entries had felt the same thrill that I had, seeing the passion and creativity that had gone into that idea. I really do hope that young girl goes to on to do something incredible, because she truly inspired me.’ Colin Greenwood – CAA