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Asked by gwedegs01 to Rain, Andy, Bill, Grant, Kayleigh on 13 Mar 2012. This question was also asked by janjew, walkeraj15, bradgunningham98.
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Rain Irshad answered on 12 Mar 2012:
Oh ho if only that were true. Sadly, Engineering is probably not the field you want to go into if you want to be filthy stinking rich. Not my kind, anyway. If you’re looking for big bucks, I’d head for London and aim for Investment Banking or Law. Possibly management consultancy.
The great thing about schemes like this is that, whatever happens, it’s the schools that win. The money won from this competition has to be spent on making Engineering more open, engaging and available to the public. The engineers just get to decide on exactly how that’s going to be managed.
I grew up in a single parent family on a council estate in Oldham – if it wasn’t for programmes like this, I would never had been able to get to where I am. That’s why I think this competition is really important, and everyone should get involved!
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Andrew Hearn answered on 13 Mar 2012:
Hmm. I could work very hard and get stressed out a lot in a job that I hate, just to watch my bank account get huge (for what I don’t know), or actually wake up in the mornings to look forward to go to work and do something I really enjoy (which I think I’m lucky as one or two of my mates are always moaning about how fed up they are with their jobs) !
I think we aren’t allowed to keep the £500…. 🙂 But it is even better that we get to show students what it is really all about, and nothing like the boring lessons at school!
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Kayleigh Messer answered on 13 Mar 2012:
Hopefully the £500 will benefit the students in the schools in this zone as I intend to buy some interesting books about science/engineering careers so if you need any more information after these two weeks then you’ll be able to get it!
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Bill Price answered on 22 Mar 2012:
I think I may have answered this. I dont get that much money but the £500 is for us to redirect rather than ‘have’. I plan to redirect it to the music project in Zambia.
Comments
Bill commented on :
Hi Gwedeg, I think we only get to re-direct the £500 in a direction we feel strongly about. I don’t think feeling strongly about your own bank account is the spirtit of the event. I agree with Rain above on her point about getting lots of people involved. What would you direct the £500 towards?
Andy commented on :
Hmm. I could work very hard and get stressed out a lot in a job that I hate, just to watch my bank account get huge (for what I don’t know), or actually wake up in the mornings to look forward to go to work and do something I really enjoy (which I think I’m lucky as one or two of my mates are always moaning, how fed up they are with their jobs) !
I think we aren’t allowed to keep the £500…. 🙂 But it is even better that we get to show students what it is really all about, and nothing like being in school!
Andy commented on :
Oops – sorry didn’t see that this question was specifically for Rain only, I only just clicked on the ‘next question’ link at the bottom after answering my previous question, and here I was. Sorry!
gwedegs01 commented on :
I’m afraid you got it all wrong, by this i meant with the money You have worked for why can’t you use that.
Kayleigh commented on :
ahh I see…
Well to be honest with you I couldn’t afford to!
I give up my free time volunteering to be a STEM ambassador to take part in events like this and The Big Bang Fair at the weekend because it’s all I can really offer. Hopefully all the engineers that are giving up their time are helping to make a difference, and all the students are getting more out of this than £500 could buy!
Andy commented on :
I’m glad that someone’s asked that! Actually, I’m already doing this, plus donating to a handful of favourite causes. Regarding the ‘tiny computers’ mentioned on my profile; on my own I won’t be able to get the same level of ‘publicity’ as I probably would get via “I’m an engineer…”. In fact, I wish there were more like you, asking the very same to the fat cats of businesses and the like! Perhaps if engineering turns out not the path for you, I hope you’re considering going into politics? You’d get many votes! Kudos to you.
Rain commented on :
There’s all sorts of issues involved here. Let’s say for a moment that I didn’t have to pay my rent this month and had a spare £500 to spend on a good cause. What should I put it towards? Nowadays, you can’t just consider what resources you have, you also have to think about how to manage them – which is what we elect ministers to do.
Now I know absolutely nothing abouting treating HIV, or cancer, or how to go about abolishing child labour and drought in Africa – but I can offer money and hope that someone who does know something about those things will find it useful.
I do, however, know about Engineering and Physics – so I can actively give my time and experience in helping further those causes in society, and help other young people (now I no longer count as one) to be able to achieve some of the things I did without the benefit of a wealthy background.
But even leaving aside the relative merits of different causes, if I put £500 towards Engineering outreach (and I’ve probably contributed at least that over the course of my career) then it directly benefits the school I donate it too and those people are happy. If, on the other hand, that £500 is put towards a competition like this, hundreds of people are involved all over the country and suddenly you’ve made a huge difference and gotten lots of people interested in and talking about Engineering in society and as a career. Hopefully, people who didn’t think they could succeed in this field realise that it is within their capabilities and that there are lots of others out there to help.
Manging your resources can often be more important than just having enough of them – as anyone who has ever been involved in running the NHS probably knows.