The Royal Academy of Engineering has teamed up with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), major engineering employers and the professional engineering institutions to deliver a week-long series of events and activities to encourage more young people to embark into a career in engineering.
The campaign will challenge outdated negative perceptions about engineering careers, particularly amongst women, and demonstrate the relevance of engineering to young people's everyday lives.
Sir John Parker, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, hoped the event will demonstrate that engineering is a real and attractive option, which offers careers that are both stimulating and diverse.
"Students aged 11 to 14 are at a crucial point in their lives, in terms of making choices that will impact on their future career paths, and hence this is a key time to engage," he said. "We look forward to working with our partners to inspire the engineers of the future and hope many other organisations will join us to change perceptions of engineering careers."
The week offers several activities that target outdated preconceptions about the profession and its professionals, especially among women, and shows how engineering is relevant to everyday life through talks, events, discussions and competitions.
Activities will include:
- Work with young engineering ambassadors who will demonstrate the breadth, depth and variety of job opportunities in engineering, including careers in fashion, music, sport, mobile technology, computer gaming; TV and film
- Polling amongst secondary school children exploring attitudes to jobs in engineering and the impact of engineering on society in the future
- A nationwide search to find England's Engineering Wonders, judged by the shining stars of contemporary engineering
- Social media activity and high profile competitions for young people offering engineering-related money-can't-buy prizes
- Engineering industry announcements, events, round tables and discussions looking at future skills needs in the engineering industry and how more young people can be encouraged into engineering jobs
For further information about Tomorrow's Engineers Week and to find out how to get involved, click here.