The seventh annual Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (TEW) is set to take place from November 4-8, and will seek to highlight how working in the field can fulfil young people’s desire to embark on careers making a positive difference to the world.
A 2017 survey of more than 2,000 young people and adults in the UK, commissioned by event organisers, EngineeringUK, found that 90% “would like a job with a purpose”, with 64% of parents wanting their children to have a job that is “something they can be proud of”.
To that end, TEW 2019 is designed to showcase how engineers help people’s health and wellbeing. The focal point of the programme will be a Big Assembly, in which approximately 50,000 young people are slated to join in a live stream featuring inspirational engineers on a mission to improve people’s physical and mental health.
Organisers are hoping to surpass the impressive figures from 2018’s inaugural assembly, when more than 850 schools and 50,000 young people took part. Schools can sign up and download lesson plans via bigassembly.org.
On the same day – November 6 – the Royal Academy of Engineering will unveil the latest step in its This is Engineering campaign. This Is Engineering Day is a new national awareness campaign dedicated to celebrating the engineers and technicians shaping society and solving global problems.
Primarily, the day will focus on changing the stereotypical public image of engineers, with a number of high profile supporters – including Amazon, Ocado and Facebook – on hand to illustrate what 21st century engineers really looks like.
“With so many career options open to young people, it’s vital that they understand the sheer range of exciting opportunities engineering provides,” said Beth Elgood, director of communications at EngineeringUK.
“From tackling diseases to saving lives at sea to stopping flooding, preventing plastics from entering our oceans and even helping animals, engineers are at the heart of making the world a better place.”
