Imagineer Schools
Inspired by real-life research and developed by the award-winning writers of physics show ‘Chasing the Waves’, step into Glasgow Science Festival’s time machine and embark on a journey to the past, present and future. Through music, comedy and live performance, explore the diversity and ethics of engineering, from aviation to biotechnology. The show is designed to promote debate and trigger the imagination.
In December 2017, over 1,000 upper secondary pupils from across the West of Scotland attended the University of Glasgow to experience Glasgow Science Festival's new event - 'Imagineer'. We would like to thank everyone who came along for being such a fantastic audience!
Your questions answered
During the Decemeber 2017 run of Imagineer for schools, we asked pupils to write down their questions for our panel of engineers. We couldn't get through them all on the day so we have picked the ten most popular or interesting questions and put them to our engineers. See who they are and what they had to say below.
Questions have also been collated in our Schools pack.
The panel
Maira Vasilevska is a PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow researching nanoscale electronic engineering
Julien Reboud is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Glasgow in Biomedical Engineering
Ryan Timoney is a PhD researcher at the University of Glasgow in the department of Aerospace Sciences
Kevin Worrall is is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Glasgow in Systems power and energy
Why did you choose to be an engineer?
Maira Vasilevska
I like making new things and I like science. Engineering employs the rules of physics and you always get to make something new, something nobody has made before, something better that there already is.
Julien Reboud
Interesting question! I actually wanted to be a medical doctor. My father, who is a cardiologist, managed to persuade me otherwise (for complex reasons) and I went into engineering almost by default as a potentially rewarding career. But medicine (and the idea of caring for people who are sick) stayed with me throughout my degree and I even changed my curriculum to include new courses around healthcare that were not available in the syllabus at the time. In the end, I do not regret this at all: as medics (my brother is one), one gets to cure many people every day on an individual basis and it is indeed extremely rewarding and stressful. As an engineer, one has the opportunity to fix issues that affect a truly large number of patients and make a great difference.
Ryan Timoney
I always had an interest in the sciences, and knew that I would like to pursue something that would require me to use my skills in problem solving to make a difference. Engineering seemed like the best fit, and as an Aerospace Engineer, I get to work on exciting projects that allow me to travel all over the world.
Kevin Worrall
I enjoy solving puzzles and being challenged.
What is the hardest part of the engineering process?
Maira Vasilevska
When things go wrong during the process but you don't know what went wrong so you have to repeat it, but there is no guarantee that it will work.
Julien Reboud
I would say 2 things: 1. understanding the problem. In many cases, the questions are not formulated in a way that they can be answered directly and there is a lot of work in defining what the issues actually are. This is difficult because it involves a lot of communication. But it is also hugely engaging and interesting as we get to discuss with lots of great people! 2. For the spirits, the hardest part is when the first prototype fails (and it always does!). This is because it is something that we have put a great deal of effort in, and really think it will work. But after a few times on this, one starts to expect the first few prototypes to fail and then the fixing is enjoyable!
Ryan Timoney
If there was an infinite amount of money, time or manpower to spend on a project then I'd never have any problems. Unfortunately, as engineers, we're required to solve real-world problems with real-world constraints, meaning that very often we have to try and figure out how to do the impossible with very little resources! This can sometimes make the job really difficult, but if you're up for a challenge then you'll never be bored as an engineer!
Kevin Worrall
Knowing when to finish...
Most interesting project you have worked on?
Maira Vasilevska
The one I am working on now. I am making tiny tiny electronic devices that make a lot of power and it is fascinating how powerful are thing one can't even see with a bare eye.
Julien Reboud
Working on disease diagnostic in low-resource countries is so humbling and rewarding, I would have to pick this. Meeting all the great people that try to solve these issues is extremely interesting, but the problem is tremendously challenging !
Ryan Timoney
I'm lucky to work as a designer on Research & Development projects, meaning I've had the chance to work on many cool projects. It's pretty hard to pick the most interesting, but I've designed rocket engines, put together huge Earth observation spacecraft by hand and been to Antarctica to field test robotic drilling systems for Mars exploration!
Kevin Worrall
To date a Martian Drill system. We got to take it to Antarctica and has led to a number of different projects. Including a underground drilling robot…
Are you ever worried your work becomes obsolete?
Maira Vasilevska
I personally work in the lab, so there will always be other people around me, but some engineers do spend most of their time working all alone. However, most companies have a team of engineers for building something, so they work with other people, even if they have a task on their own, at some point they need to tell other people about the work which means they will meet other people, so they wont be alone all the time.
Julien Reboud
This is not a worry but a hope! the solutions that we develop are never perfect and I always aspire that something greater is going to come and replace it. I am often working on it myself!
Ryan Timoney
Nah, there always needs to be someone to design and repair the next generation of robot overlords!
Kevin Worrall
Yes. But becoming obsolete means something is replacing it. The chances are you helped create that new solution and if not, you have a new solution to learn about...
How useful do you find your engineering skills in every day life?
Maira Vasilevska
Very useful, you can very often fix things around you, like change a fuse to a kettle that stopped boiling water or smth else.
Julien Reboud
Sadly, I can't say that I am much help at home ! I have done (and continue to do) a bit of tinkering (redoing flats for example), but this is not my strength. However, the engineering skill that stays with me (beyond building furniture) is solving problems. This is nature that is pervasive in my whole life (and often annoys my wife, who sometimes does not necessarily want everything to be a problem to fix)
Ryan Timoney
My engineering skills allow me to solve practical problems in a logical way - something that's admired by many organisations, not just engineering ones. Having a mind that is curious about how things work, and an understanding of the physical laws allows me to evaluate the world in a different way, which means that you gain an interesting perspective on things!
Kevin Worrall
Extremely useful. I use them every day and they can be employed from house maintenance through to arguing logically. Engineering skills can help you look at problems in different ways and aid in the creation of different solutions.
What do you consider the greatest achievement in engineering?
Maira Vasilevska
The Millau viaduct- it's the tallest bridge
Ryan Timoney
This is a tricky one. The internet? Automobile? Aircraft? That inflatable pillow that lets you go to sleep anywhere?
Kevin Worrall
The first human tools. All engineering started with them.
Who do you look up to most in your profession?
Maira Vasilevska
My extremely calm and patient co-workers. Patience is one of the most important skills of an engineer.
Ryan Timoney
Elon Musk. The inspiration for Iron Man, and a truly inspirational character. I'm sure he'll be viewed as a visionary in years to come...
If you could time travel where would you go?
Maira Vasilevska
Definitely past, because- who want's to spoil the future by knowing what is going to happen- where the fun in that?
Julien Reboud
I would definitely go in the future - this is where the new challenges are !
Ryan Timoney
Assuming you can only travel backwards, I'd like to have witnessed the moon landings.
Kevin Worrall
To Meet Leonardo DaVinci and find out what drove him to generate so much work across so many different fields.
I feel some companies have closed Scottish branches and most jobs are abroad, Is the future of engineering dwindling in Scotland?
Maira Vasilevska
Engineering is about collaboration, everyone can't start from zero, we build on the other people's work, so brexit is not helping in this area, since most companies make stuff not only for this country but also to export it somewhere else, to have a bigger market. but I believe there is still plenty of opportunities here in Scotland, you just need to look for them.
Julien Reboud
This is a global issue and the world is definitely changing. Economies in the Western world tend to rely less on manufacturing than in the past, thus jobs have to evolve and the future of engineering will change to design-oriented jobs for example. But Scotland has huge strength (we are building carriers!), especially in renewable energy (e.g. tidal energy) and life sciences. There is definitely a bright future in Scotland for engineering!
Ryan Timoney
In my area, space engineering, Scotland had little to no presence in the field only a handful of years ago, but is now an international hub for small satellite technologies. While there may be a reduction in the number of more 'traditional' manufacturing areas, the future of high-tech industries, working on amazing new developments, is set to flourish.
Kevin Worrall
There are a number of innovate small businesses setting up in Scotland. The engineering landscape has changed but there is a lot of world class engineering going on, namely within the Space and renewable energy industries
When and how will robots take over?
Maira Vasilevska
I would assume in about 200 years, they might take over. Robot empire starts from robots doing all kinds of little things, as you can see today, there are cleaning robots that you just leave in the house and they vacuum it for you. I suppose robots might advance to self-learning robots that chat with people and observe the knowledge and try to improve themselves on their own until a robot can create things it has seen before.
Ryan Timoney
Whenever and however we can engineer them to integrate into society in a useful manner, instead of just falling over a lot.
Kevin Worrall
If you put a physical stop button in, everything will be fine...
