Her unwavering determination to encourage the next generation of engineers, and to promote STEM careers to girls, earnt her an MBE - Sarah Haslam is the perfect role model. As Chief Program Engineer at Ford Motor Company she’s worked around the world in places like Russia, Turkey, Thailand and South Africa. In this episode she tells us what it takes to design a brand new Ford Fiesta, and she tells us about her career defining moment. We also hear from brother and sister duo Chloe and Marc who both dreamt up impressive inventions for this year’s competition. Andrew and Christopher from Ulster University tell us how they brought Caelan’s ‘Road Flash’ to life - an invention that promises to reduce accidents on our roads. And we have another incredible lineup of children offering up their engineering ideas including Ellie, Layci, Lily, Mirren and Aaron. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcasts to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

Tasked with judging entries to this year’s Leaders Award competition, Jayne Hunt from Lexisnexis Risk Solutions Group has been blown away by the ingenuity of the young inventors. Jayne has shared her creative feedback on many entries, and in this episode highlights some of her favourites, including an AI tennis racket, a braille clothes tag and an anti-bullying watch. We also meet the quantum physicist that dances with robots. Merritt Moore has done the seemingly impossible, bridging the gap between science and art, excelling in both physics and ballet. In this episode Merritt tells us about her amazing and unique career journey, and explains why robots make the perfect dance partners. Nicola, Cameron and Orla from the University of Strathclyde explore the process of turning Lacey Murphy’s ‘Whale of Litter’ into a working prototype. And Isi and Imogen from James Allen’s Girls’ School tell us about their climate-saving engineering inventions. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcasts to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

‘The Chair of Fire and Structures’, a title straight out of Lord of the Rings! Luke Bisby is probably the only person in the world with that title - he’s an academic engineer, working at the University at Edinburgh. Luke explains why his days are mostly spent in the lab with various building materials, either getting them hot or setting them on fire, exploring the critical nature of his work in avoiding catastrophic building fires. We hear from Owen Howard, an entrant to this year’s Leaders Award competition, who’s hoping for a win with his electric car themed design. Gemma Houston tells us how she and her team at the University of Strathclyde brought Grace’s ‘Rollover Bench’ to life. And Amelia and Martha from James Allen's Girls' School share their ideas to combat air pollution and protect the environment. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcasts to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

From video games to prosthetic limbs, Laura Bücheler’s work offers solutions to problems in all areas of life. Laura is director and co-founder of ‘GHOST – feel it’, which uses haptic technology to simulate the feelings of touch and motion using artificial intelligence. Laura explains the many uses of this type of human-machine interface, and how it has the ability to change the world. We also hear about Mary Mulligan’s ‘Electric Blanket’ which offers homeless people a solar-powered way to keep warm. We meet three members of the Royal Air Force Youth and Stem team, who’ve judged around 8,500 Leaders Award competition entries - they tell us about some of their personal highlights. And Arnav and Philip from Homefield Prep School tell us about their engineering ideas too. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcasts to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

Playing video games with your mind - one of the amazing ways Vincent Giampietro finds out what’s going on in our brains. Vincent is a neuroscientist and in today’s engineer spotlight he explains what happens in our brains when we learn a new skill, how we can learn to modify our brains in real-time, and gives us an insight into many more of his fascinating experiments. We also get to meet Douglas MaCartney, the student who dreamt up the innovative ‘Flat Pack Wind Turbine’, and we hear from members of the Glasgow Caledonian University proto-team who have been working for the past three years to turn his idea into a reality. And we hear about a ‘Magic Knife’ and a ‘Crop Sensor’ from students Rhys and Barron. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcasts to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

At first she was just taking apart her parent’s favourite radio, but that curiosity grew into a passion for helping people - through robotics! Iulia Motoc is a robotics engineer and technical consultant for Leyton. She tells us how the Nao Robot inspired her career, explains why engineering is the DNA of the world, and discusses the future of artificial intelligence. We also hear from Issy Radley, a young engineer who took inspiration from her dad to invent the Super Hearing Set - and we meet Dr Stefan Bleeck who was part of the University of Southampton team that turned the set into a working prototype. And then we share two engineering ideas from students at Raynes Park High School - Tienna’s app for pets and Gaia Lai’s Virus Killer. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcast to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

He’s taken them up mountains, through the desert, and even to the Arctic Circle - Oliver Joris has put Ford’s cars to the test under every extreme imaginable. Olly gives us an insight into the amazing bits of kit he gets to play with as part of his role as senior calibration engineer for Ford Motor Company, and tells us about some of the breathtaking views he’s seen along the way. We also hear from Dr Malcolm Klaus and Sean Wogan from Kingston University who have worked on numerous Leaders Award prototypes. In this episode they highlight some of their favourites, including the Extending Sink 6000, the Bike Sucker, the Trampoline Phone Charger and the Truggy. And it doesn’t stop there, we also get to hear about Katie’s ingenious plans to provide homes for the wildlife, and also about an innovative bug detector. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcast to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

It all began when she was passing car parts around the dinner table, and it culminated in a dream role working for McLaren. Ella Podmore is a materials engineer at McLaren automotive, and spends her day breaking things apart in the laboratory - sometimes she even gets to take the cars out for a spin! Ella tells us about her job, shares an important message about female representation in engineering, and explains why it’s important to be tenacious. We also hear from young engineer-in-the-making Daniel Kitley, who’s on a mission to save the planet with his Beach Cleaner 3000. The planet-saving theme continues when we meet the Glasgow Caledonian University team tasked with creating Heather’s Hydro Paddle, and when we meet Arabella and Maria, who both have innovative ideas to tackle pollution and climate change. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcast to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

It was the second time Matthew Dickinson had been tasked with turning a child’s idea into a working prototype, so he was no stranger to the If You Were An Engineer competition. But he never expected what would happen next. Matthew tells us how the SMA jacket, a seemingly simple idea, has changed the entire trajectory of his career. We also hear from Krystyna Marshall, the young woman behind the concept. On top of that, we hear the engineering ideas of Jacob and Caitlin from Pitteuchar East primary school, and meet Louise and Beth who were part of the University of Strathclyde proto team that brought Aiden’s Shopping Trolley for the Elderly to life. If you’d like to get in touch, follow us on Twitter @Leadersaward, and head over to our website www.leadersaward.com/podcast to access loads of bonus and behind the scenes content.

This brand new Primary Engineer podcast is a celebration of engineering; inspiring children, parents and teachers alike. Hear from engineers at the top of their game, discover the limitless ideas of young engineers in the making, and meet the teams turning those ideas into reality.