Celebrating the Engineers in our Council

STEPS Engineers Week is a celebration of the engineering profession and its role in shaping the world around us. Running from 1 - 7 March 2025, Engineers Week is a nationwide event that encourages people of all ages to explore, learn, and engage with engineering in a fun and accessible way.

Thanks to the support of Westmeath County Council we were delighted to host 6 sessions with council engineers in our libraries in Athlone and Mullingar, and to invite some local schools to attend. Engineers from different council areas such as Roads, the Fire Service and Regeneration explained what engineers do, and who they are.

Engineers are creative problem-solvers using maths and science. Some people think engineering is just about fixing machines and constructing buildings, but there here are many different types of engineering and engineers. Engineers tackle real-world problems, they are at the centre of innovation. Children attending the events learned that engineers play a role in all our lives, from designing the roads and paths we use to get to school or work, through to working out how many toilets were needed for the Fleadh in Mullingar.

At the end of the talks children got an opportunity to ask questions, and to interact with models such as wind turbines, play with a robotics kit and try to score a goal, as well as try on firefighting equipment and hear how special tools such as heat sensor cameras assist firefighters in their job.

Thanks to the children who came along, and to the engineers and fire-fighters of Westmeath County Council for sharing their time and expertise.

Castlepollard and Moate Libraries also celebrated the week with some Lego sessions, asking children to figure out how to create their own engineering masterpieces. Castlepollard also hosted an arts & crafts session that focused on how to build a straw rocket!

To top off the week, the Dean Kelly National School took part in a K’Nex ‘Bridge that Gap’ challenge on Friday. Students had to use K’nex to build a bridge that would cross distances of .5m and 1m. There were some interesting designs and student’s problem solving skills were tested to the limit! The morning was great fun and we hope it inspired students to become the engineers of the future!’