UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 06 JULY 2017
A host of events and activities will come to Birmingham next week as the city prepares to host its first ever engineering festival, celebrating its historic links to the trade.
Birmingham City University will run the Birmingham City Engineering Festival alongside ThinkTank after being handed £30,000 funding mainly from the Royal Academy of Engineering to put on the event, which takes place between July 10 and 16.
Performance shows will be held at the Bull Ring throughout the week with students and graduates performing dramatic, flash mob style, sketches showcasing the creative side of engineering.
The shows, developed by Birmingham Conservatoire, will explore the inspiration behind the design of the iconic Selfridges building and present a young girl’s quest to reach the moon by creating a rollercoaster.
During the Festival secondary school pupils will be given the chance to take part in interactive shows and hands on workshops at the University. Pupils will be tasked with demonstrating different aspects of engineering also including intelligent systems, renewable energy and electric cars.
Dr Abed Alaswad from Birmingham City University, said: “Birmingham is renowned as one of UK engineering’s most significant places due to its role in the industrial revolution and the importance of its historic manufacturing industry. However, general public nowadays are not fully aware of the new and diverse aspects of engineering that are essential to their lives.
“Our festival aims to extend the general public view of engineering beyond the classical view using street performance, and to inspire the new generation about engineering and increase awareness about its diverse aspects and their vital place in their lives using interactive shows and hands on workshops.
Most of the activities will be delivered by graduates and students from the University’s Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, its School of Architecture and acting students from Birmingham Conservatoire.