The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has this week launched its first activity as part of a year long #ISeeMore campaign drive, aimed at encouraging young people to open their eyes to the variety of exciting careers available in engineering.
Specifically targeting children aged 9-years-old and upwards, #ISeeMore, is part of the IET’s Engineer a Better World campaign to nurture young people’s natural curiosity in the world around them and excite them about the engineering in everyday life.
The first stage of #ISeeMore sees four popular YouTube vloggers go behind the scenes at brands loved by young people to uncover the engineering that lies at the heart of them.
Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, Chessington World of Adventures Resort, Fun Kids Radio and Shazam have all opened their doors. They have given the vloggers access to behind the scenes areas and interviews with inspirational engineers to showcase the creativity and diversity of engineering careers.
Part of the IET’s mission is to inspire the next generation of engineers. It’s estimated that the UK needs to find nearly 2 million new engineers over the next decade* and so this new campaign is designed to enthuse children about engineering at an early stage in their education journey.
Jeremy Watson, the IET President, said: “It’s #ISeeMore important than ever to show how creative and diverse engineering careers can be. The YouTube series is a way to reach young people using a popular medium, familiar to them. We know that young people don’t consume traditional media so it’s vital we tap into the right audience in the right way and keep on top of trends.”
The #ISeeMore YouTube series launches on June 1st 2017 and comprises the following videos:
Cherry Wallis and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter
Self-proclaimed ‘Hogwarts student’, Cherry has been a vlogger since 2012 and was the winner of the 2016 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards for UK Favourite Breakthrough Vlogger. Cherry went back to Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter to learn about the engineering which makes the world famous tour work. She even takes a peak at the brand new forbidden forest.
Subscribers: nearly 284,000
Total video views: 20million
Instagram following: 42.6k
Twitter following: 62.2k
Sam King and Chessington World of Adventure
20-year-old Sam King is YouTube’s resident cheeky-chappy, visited Chessington World of Adventures Resort to take a sneak peak at rollercoaster engineering and inspiration behind the new ride, The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure.
Subscribers: nearly 200,000
Total video views: 9million
Instagram following: 56.1k
Twitter following: 98.9k
Laura Bubble and Fun Kids Radio
After winning a Radio 1 competition when she was 17 years old, Laura Bubble continues to do TV reviews on its Sunday show, as well as being a contributor to CBBC’s show, ‘Technobabble’. The comedic personality is known for her comedy sketches and pranks. She visited Fun Kids Radio to try her hand at becoming a radio presenter and learn about the sound and tech engineering that makes the shows possible.
Subscribers: nearly 38,000
Total video views: 3million
Instagram following: 4k
Twitter following: 10k
Lauren Platt and Shazam
As the youngest ever X Factor finalist, Essex girl Lauren Platt was born to perform. The music fanatic went to visit the music app Shazam to speak with a software engineer who helps to make it work
Subscribers: 29,000
Total video views: 1.2million
Instagram following: 367k
Twitter following: 213k
For more information about the IET’s #ISeeMore Campaign, visit www.engineer-a-better-world.org