‘Meet the Future You’ showcases a variety of engineering careers on offer, from wind turbine technician to cancer researcher. It aims to give students the opportunity to identify with real-life engineers and roles they can relate to, as well as highlighting a diverse range of engineers from different backgrounds.
After answer a series of questions, the quiz matches students with profiles such as Future Lifesaver or Universe Explorer. These profiles are based on real-life engineers from UCL’s engineering faculty, which were developed as part of a public engagement project to showcase a diverse range of backgrounds. Of the 11 characters, seven are women, seven are from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, two are LGBTQ, and one is a wheelchair user.
“We were excited to partner with UCL Engineering and bring to life these inspiring profiles in this new interactive quiz,” said Eleanor Eyre, head of Careers at EngineeringUK. “Meet the Future You aims to inspire young people and demonstrate that anyone can become an engineer, by showcasing a diverse range of real-life engineers.
“It highlights that engineering can be a route to following your passion, whether that’s saving the environment or creating robots. Today’s engineers are producing medical vaccines, developing autonomous cars and commercialising space flight. We wanted tomorrow’s engineers to realise the huge range of career choice out there if they decide to follow pathways that lead to careers in engineering.”
Thousands of school children had the chance to trial the quiz at The Big Bang Fair held in Birmingham earlier in the year. The top 2 profile matches for both genders was Civilisation Saver – engineers who design cities that are resilient to future challenges - and Sea Crusader, which includes marine engineers.
“This is a brilliantly innovative way of engaging young people with the huge breadth of careers in engineering,” said Professor Clare Elwell from UCL Engineering, who develops technology in healthcare to help the world’s poorest children. Ewell was the inspiration for the Future Lifesaver profile and matched correctly with it when she took the quiz herself.
“It was great to see the kids at The Fair connecting their interests and passions with the actual jobs of real-life engineers,” she said.
The Meet the Future You quiz is available online here and as a free app.
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