Johnny Ball and Dr. Brian Iddon MP Judge Engineering Public Challenge

Dr. Brian Iddon MP and TV Presenter and Ambassador for Engineering, Johnny Ball were amongst the judges at an Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) “Engineering Public Challenge” Competition at the Arndale Centre in Manchester last Saturday.

The competition, which involved North Western Young Members of the IMechE, asked entrants to design and manufacture, from scratch, a fruit and vegetable peeler to be used by disabled people.

Statistics show that 10 million people – or one in five of the population - are living with a disability, of those 7000,000 are children and 4.7 million are pensioners.

Following research that indicated 70% of young people between 16-19 years had no idea what being an engineer involved, the IMechE engineers were keen to demonstrate the importance engineering plays in developing devices and appliances that can help disabled people in their everyday lives.    

Dr. Iddon said,

“I was delighted to be able to help judge this competition, along with Johnny Ball. I was incredibly impressed at the high standard and originality of the ideas amongst the young engineers. I think it is vital to demonstrate the importance of engineering and its relevance to everyday life in order to encourage more young people to pursue a career in engineering and the sciences.”

Johnny Ball added;

“What you can learn from science and engineering can simply blow your mind. Engineering improves the quality of life for everyone and especially those who need it the most.”

1.. Johnny Ball is well known for his “Think of a Number” BBC Show. He is an official Ambassador for Engineering and is a Doctor for Science at the University of Glasgow.

2. The Institute of Mechanical Engineers is one of the worlds leading engineering institutions; it currently has around 78,000 members in 120 countries.

3. The Engineering Public Challenge event took place on Saturday 15^th March at the Arndale Centre, Manchester.