FIBE2 Cohort 2 have been busy preparing to inspire the next generation of engineers. Cambridge festival, running from 26 March to 4 April 2021, offers an eclectic mix of over 350 events and activities covering the full breadth of Cambridge research with something for all ages. Cohort 2 have developed a three-part event titled 2100 City of the Future: Building a Bridge for a Flooded World, which will steer budding engineers through the process of imagining, designing, and building a bridge for a future world. Current knowledge and research have been translated into three activities designed to develop fundamental engineering skills.
The first session, Imagine, is all about visualisation and creativity, where academic and industry experts will set the scene of a future hostile world and pitch engineering, in general, as a way through. The following Design session homes in on bridges, where the three Forth bridges — built across three centuries — will demonstrate how the environment has always shaped design and act to channel vision and ideas onto paper. The final session, Build, is a get-your-hands-dirty workshop where participants transform plans to reality, investigating several iconic bridge typologies before creating a suspension bridge within their own homes. One to keep the adults on their toes that’s for sure.
Young people are aware of the environmental threats their world will face. This event empowers them to act, exploring the power of engineering to overcome forces of nature as it always has. While the festival’s digital format presented challenges for engagement, Cohort 2’s use of punchy videos tied to practical workshops embody a secondary theme of the event — construction’s adoption of digital, which young people will be instrumental in driving. By the end of the event participants will have formed a connection between environmental problems and ways they can tackle them. And importantly, they will see this can be done through an enjoyable and rewarding career in engineering.
**Update: Success! With over 50 participants, 10 hours spent in workshops and 15 bridge submissions, FIBE2 successfully closed their 4-part event at Cambridge Festival. The website ‘2100 City of the Future’ and videos will be kept live for a short time at: https://www.2100cityofthefuture.com/ or click
2100: City of the future – Bridge for a Flooded World
A series of three sessions will test your creativity and engineering judgement as you work to design and build a prototype bridge, right from the comfort of your own homes!