Primary Engineer® is delighted to announce that the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has become a National Partner for the ‘If You Were an Engineer, What Would You Do?®’ competition. The competition known as The Leaders Award annually sees tens of thousands of pupils across the UK interviewing engineering professionals, identifying problems in the world and designing solutions to them, a selection of which are brought to life by university engineering teams.

The partnership with the CAA will enable both primary and secondary pupils to gain engineering insights into aviation and aerospace through direct engagement with CAA engineering professionals who will inspire pupils to consider challenges in the world, especially those related to aviation and aerospace and create innovative designs to solve them.

From trampolines which charge mobile phones to solutions for ‘space junk’, pupils will have opportunities to identify themselves with engineering through issues and interests that matter to them. The competition which boasts a 50:50 gender split, allows all pupils to meet engineering professionals through online or face to face sessions to find out who they are and what they do and then to focus their ingenuity on a challenge in the world they want to address.

Dr Susan Scurlock, MBE, CEO and Founder of Primary Engineer®, said: “Empowering all pupils to consider engineering as a possible future career regardless of their gender, ethnicity or background is a major goal for us. It’s important that all primary and secondary pupils have opportunities to meaningfully engage with engineering professionals, understand the exciting breadth of future careers that engineering offers and to see themselves as the engineers of the future. Our partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority is exciting because it will allow young people to understand more about the aviation and aerospace sector and to design the future for us.” 

Richard Moriarty, CEO, UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “We are very excited to partner with Primary Engineer on this initiative for many reasons, not only because it is a fantastic competition with a great concept which inspires young people to explore engineering, it also offers the CAA an opportunity to provide an insight into engineering within the aviation & aerospace sector to a wide range of ages groups, nationally. It is also a great opportunity for us to positively support efforts to increase diversity and also challenge misconceptions and stereotypes about careers in STEM, aviation and aerospace.”

‘If You Were an Engineer, What Would You Do?®’ asks all pupils from three to19 years old to look at the world around them and design solutions to everyday problems. The competition is open to all schools in the UK and is free to enter. Teachers register via the website and are provided with lesson plans and resources to support the project including a series of live online interviews with engineering professionals from around the world and from all engineering sectors. Astronauts, biomedical engineers and innovators developing jet pack suits to allow humans to fly, to name but a few, all unlock the limitless possibilities for the minds of young people inspiring them to put pen to paper or CAD skills to use. Pupil’s designs are displayed in public exhibitions around the UK and winning designs are selected each year to be made a reality by university ‘proto teams’.

To learn more about ‘If You Were an Engineer, What Would You Do?®’ visit https://leadersaward.com/

About Primary Engineer®

Primary Engineer is an educational not-for-profit organisation that provides programmes to encourage children from 3 to 19 years to consider STEM and engineering careers. Primary Engineer inspires children, pupils, parents and teachers through continued professional development courses, whole class project work, competitions, and engagement with engineering and industry professionals to ensure the learning has a context to the wider world. Primary Engineer addresses the diversity and gender imbalance in engineering with early years, primary and secondary pupils.

About the UK Civil Aviation Authority

The UK CAA is the UK’s aviation regulator. Its activities include: making sure that the aviation industry meets the highest technical and operational safety standards; preventing holidaymakers from being stranded abroad or losing money because of tour operator insolvency; planning and regulating UK airspace; and regulating airports, air traffic services and airlines; and providing advice on aviation policy.

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