Become an ICE Ambassador

Be one of our engineering Ambassadors

It's rewarding, fulfilling and beneficial to everyone involved - going into schools and running practical engineering-focused activities that really challenge students.

  • Do you have a passion for the built environment and want to share that?
  • Do you want to share your experience and give young people a chance to enter this great profession?

You can also develop your own skills like planning and public speaking which can count towards your CPD.

Volunteer to be an ICE Ambassador

ICE Ambassadors help spread the word about civil engineering careers to young people, parents and teachers. You could:

  • Talk about the profession and run activity sessions with young people
  • Represent civil engineering at careers fairs and STEM events (e.g. Big Bang Fairs)
  • Give support to a particular school or STEM club project or competition entry
  • Create new activities or set up events to help inspire young people, teachers or parents
  • Talk to students at your old school about civil engineering.

If you're interested but don't have any experience working with young people, don't worry, STEM Learning will train and guide you before you start. You need to be based in the UK.

If you are based outside the UK then you can choose to use any of our downloadable educational resources.

Register your interest

If you'd like to inspire the next Brunel or Fergusson then we can help you. Simply register your details and we can supply you with supporting materials and advice.

Register now

How we inspire young people to think about engineering

Bridges to Schools

Bridges to Schools gives primary pupils the chance to build an amazing cable stayed bridge. See how they do it.

ICE @ Big Bang Fair

Find out what we do at the UK's biggest STEM event for young people: promoting civil engineering to over 80,000 visitors at the Big Bang Fair.

ICE @ Big Bang Fair

Find out what we do at the UKs biggest STEM event for young people: promoting civil engineering to over 80,000 visitors at the Big Bang Fair.
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I find working with young people extremely rewarding. As an industry there is so much we can do to support young people in our local communities and to benefit ourselves through recruiting the next generation of bright young engineers to work with.

G Benga

Sakthy Selvakumaran

ICE Ambassador

G Benga

Gbenga Oludotun

ICE Ambassador

Using a computer game to explain infrastructure

It's surprising how little school children know about civil engineering. So it's great to have the opportunity as an ICE Ambassador to change the misconceptions they have of our industry, one pupil at a time.

I explain the impact of a bridge on the economy and living environment of an area. This also shows the collaborative side of being a civil engineer.

I've also developed an activity using the Minecraft computer game to inspire young children to learn about civil engineering in the same way that LEGO did a generation ago. We launched it at the West Midlands Big Bang Fair 2016 where it attracted a lot of attention.

Minecraft demonstrates how the building and creation of different structures in the games world has a parallel with infrastructure provision. Minecraft is perfect for developing civil engineering scenarios because it can be played in creative mode where the player can build anything they want. Minecraft allows you to place textured blocks to create structures, or you can break them up.

Lots of young people have played the game but when they play with a civil engineer helping they get a much better understanding of the technical and social issues civil engineers have to overcome.

The best age range for this activity is 7-14-year-olds and I give them about 20 minutes to build a structure. You need at least a laptop but I usually run it with a projector and a big screen and use Xbox 360 controllers to make it more fun.

I really enjoy volunteering as a STEM ambassador and if I can get just one young person into a career in civil engineering it's worth it.

To find out more about the Minecraft activity email [email protected].

Educational resources

If you’re an engineer going into a school, college or youth group to talk about civil engineering, or a teacher or parent looking for careers information, then we have plenty of resources you can use – from presentations to activity plans and leaflets. Either to download or order.

Primary school

5 - 10

Secondary school - lower years

11 - 14

College and upper secondary school

15 - 18