Mentors are needed for the 2024-25 ICE CityZen Award and to spread awareness of new challenge for students aged 14-16.
The ICE has called on members to step forward as mentors for the 2024-25 ICE CityZen Award.
The competition, now in its fourth year, celebrates the creative and problem-solving abilities of young people aged 16-18 by encouraging them to tackle real-world challenges in a computer game and project pitch.
Due to the award’s popularity, the ICE has launched a smaller version of the competition to show 14-to-16-year-olds what civil engineering is all about.
Alongside the main ICE CityZen Award, the new ICE CityZen Pollution Control Challenge will be available to students in the autumn term. Registration for both awards is now open.
The ICE CityZen Award's value has been recognised widely. Since the 2023 edition, the ICE CityZen game has received two accolades:
- 2023 Learning Technologies Gold Award for Best Learning Game
- Winner of the Secondary Free Digital Content App or Open Educational Resource category in the 2024 Bett Awards
The award has also been extended this year, with a new deadline set for March 2025 to give schools and mentors more flexibility to take part.
The ICE encourages all members to volunteer – from student members to Fellows. Demand for mentors will be extremely high in 2024, building on the success of past years.
STEM ambassadors play a crucial role
Contact with a STEM ambassador has been shown to be an effective way to engage students with STEM.
The experience of ICE members provides deeper insight into the complex decisions involved in planning infrastructure, which are recreated in the CityZen game.
This gives students an insight into what a career or further study in this sector looks like.
Plus, by engaging with young individuals from underrepresented groups, mentors can help pave the way for a more diverse and inclusive civil engineering industry.
STEM ambassador activities also count as initial professional development (IPD) or continued professional development (CPD).
ICE STEM ambassador Alyxandra [Alyx] Murdock, lead civil engineer at Jacobs, who mentored the gold-winning team of the 2023 ICE CityZen Award, said participating in the competition is a “fantastic” opportunity.
“I particularly enjoyed seeing the growth in my team from the beginning to the end of the competition,” Murdock said.
“They started with a brilliant concept idea for their video submission, and by the end they were able to discuss exactly how they would implement the project – thinking and speaking like civil engineers!”
The Gold Award-winning students from Repton School thanked their mentor: “Our inspirational mentor Alyx Murdock really helped us through the entire competition.
“We would like to thank her and especially ICE for giving us this incredible opportunity to explore the world of civil engineering.”
What do ICE CityZen Award mentors need to do?
Mentors are asked to commit to supporting students for approximately four hours – at mutually agreed times with their chosen school.
Mentoring is most likely to be done online but can be face-to-face if the mentor’s chosen school or college is local.
The ICE provides an ICE CityZen mentor guide and ongoing support to make the process straightforward and enjoyable.
For safeguarding reasons, ICE members must be registered as current STEM ambassadors to become a CityZen Award mentor, which is free to do.
Existing ICE STEM ambassadors can register their interest in mentoring today by completing the form below.
Register your interest to become a mentor
Impact of the ICE CityZen Award 2023
Participation grew in the 2023 ICE CityZen Award, with nearly 1,500 students from 150 schools and colleges across the UK taking part.
Since its launch, 3,200 students have played the game and learned about civil engineering.
The competition has been shown to change student attitudes to the career.
Every year after the competition, the ICE surveys students and teachers to learn about their experience. Last year, the competition got overall scores of 4.5 (and higher) out of 5.
The competition is helping to address the UK's engineering shortage. Approximately one-third of award participants expressed newfound interest in a civil engineering career.
Importantly, a 2024 UCAS study revealed that participants are ‘significantly more likely to apply and be accepted onto engineering and related courses, especially civil engineering courses’.
Applications to the ICE QUEST Undergraduate Scholarship now regularly reference taking part in the ICE CityZen Award, demonstrating how the activity ignited passion for the career.
Positive feedback
“CityZen is a unique and enjoyable competition which helped me to expand my communication and leadership skills,” said a 2023 participant in year 12 at Barton Peveril College.
“The ICE CityZen Challenge has been one of the best learning experiences for our group. We have learnt so much about the world of civil engineering and how vast its branches reach,” a 2023 participant in year 12 at Canon Slade School said.
Teacher’s comments echoed those of the students.
Dr Stuart Ingleston-Orme, head of science at Repton School said: “The students got far more from the competition than I had ever imagined, it gave genuine insight into the roles of a civil engineer, and the issues and wider considerations that need to be made as part of their job.”
Dr Ingleston-Orme highlighted that the winning team is now considering civil engineering as a career.
How to register as an ICE STEM ambassador
All UK-based ICE members – from students to fellows – are encouraged to become ICE CityZen mentors to help make this year’s competition a success.
If you haven’t yet registered as an ICE STEM ambassador, there’s time to do it before the competition.
It’s free to register through the STEM Learning organisation, who also provide guidance for engaging with young people.
Sign up as an ICE STEM ambassador today
The ICE CityZen Pollution Control Challenge
The ICE CityZen Pollution Control Challenge is a short activity, made up of one-round of the CityZen game where students are challenged solve a river pollution problem.
There are certificates for all and great prizes for the top three teams.
The ICE is asking ICE members and STEM ambassadors to reach out to schools and teachers to let them know about this exciting new opportunity for 14–16-year-olds.
ICE STEM ambassadors may also want to support schools taking part by giving a careers talk or running an activity as an add-on to their experience of the digital game.
Get involved
- Become or renew your STEM ambassador registration.
- If you're a current ICE STEM ambassadors, register your interest to be an ICE CityZen Award mentor.
