Help I’ve forgotten my password, what do I do?
What is this site about and what can I do on it?
Will all my questions get answered?
Why has no one answered my question?
I got an email saying my question was a duplicate, what does that mean?
Why have I been kicked out of the chat?
I’m having problems with the website and getting into the chat. What should I do?
Why are the engineers in the Gallery in that order?
Have you got a video that explains this more easily?
I’m a student, can I win anything?
Why are you asking me to give feedback?
There are also more detailed answers to questions asked specifically by teachers and engineers.
How do I register / log in?
You can only register if your school is taking part in the event. If so, your teacher will tell you the link you need to go to to register. You need to pick your own username and password – write them down so you don’t forget them because you can’t log in without them.
If your school is not taking part, go and nag your teacher to sign up for the next event! But don’t give your teacher too much of a hard time – spaces are limited, maybe they did try to get you in. Get them to apply for the next one. If you are a teacher you may want to talk to your Head of Department. You can register your interest in the next event on the teacher sign up page.
If you have already registered you can just log in at www.imanengineer.ie using the username and password you picked when you registered. If you have forgotten your password then click on the ‘forgotten password’ link.
Engineers do not need to register at all as we’ve already done that for you. Just enter your username (usually ‘firstnamelastname’ all in lower case please) and the access code we sent you as your password.
I’ve forgotten my password, what do I do?
Don’t worry, there’s various things to try:-
1. We emailed a copy of your username and password when you registered. If you can, go back and check that email.
2. If you’ve deleted that email, or you can’t check it at the moment, then click on the forgotten password link and we can email it to you again.
3. If that doesn’t work (for example, if you didn’t give us an email address) then your teacher can email us at admin@imanengineer.ie telling us your name and username. We’ll then email your teacher a new password for you.
What is this site about and what can I do on it?
I’m an Engineer, Get me out of Here! is an online event where students get to meet and interact with real engineers. It’s an X Factor-style competition between the engineers, where students are the judges.
Students submit questions which the engineers will try to answer by the next day. Students then have live online facebook-style chats with the engineers, where they ask questions, learn more about the engineers, and let engineers know their opinions. It takes place online over a two week period. The students then vote to decide which engineers gets €500 to spend on communicating their work.
You can only talk on the site if you are one of the students, teachers or engineers who are taking part. And you can only vote if you are one of the students, but anyone can look around and read what is being said. Go on, have a look. From the main log in page, just pick a zone and browse around!
During the event young people use web technology they feel comfortable with, to ‘meet’ engineers. They ask questions and have live chats with engineers, and then vote for their favourite. The winning engineer will receive €500, to be used to communicate their work.
I’m an Engineer brings people together, gives young people a voice and teaches them about engineering and engineers in a fun, memorable and engaging way.
I’m an Engineer, Get me out of Here! is produced by Gallomanor, specialists in helping organisations engage their communities.
Students can:
- ‘Meet’ the engineers
- ASK them questions
- Let engineers know their opinions
- Find out what real engineers are like and what they do all day
- Engage in live discussion about real-life maths, D&T and science
- CHAT live with engineers and ask them questions
- Choose which engineer they think should get €500 by VOTING for the engineer they want to win
- Enter a contest to win a €20 voucher
- Find links to maths, D&T and science information, and study help, on the web
Engineers can:
- Engage with young people
- Contribute to science, maths and D&T education
- Hear what students and teachers have to say about engineering
- Hear about the work other engineers are doing
- Get awarded €500 to spend on communication if they impress the students enough!
Teachers can:
- Show their classes how engineers works in the real world
- Download and use lesson plans and resources
- Make maths, D&T and science lessons fun!
We hope everyone will find I’m an Engineer, Get me out of Here! useful, engaging, and enjoyable. Explore the site, check out the engineers’ profiles, the live chats and all the questions that have been asked before, and… have fun!
Will all my questions get answered?
Nearly all questions will be answered.
If you ask a really rude question, moderators will take it out. Sometimes engineers get asked the same question many times: moderators will take out repeat questions and add your name to the first one.
Actually answering questions, of course, is up to the engineers .
Why has no one answered my question?
This is a very common question!
Firstly check that it hasn’t been answered yet. Your answered questions should appear on your profile page. We will also email you to let you know if we have your email address, but sometimes our emails go into the spam folder.
Secondly, give it some time. Engineers are real people with jobs, they’re volunteering their own free time to answer questions. Engineers will answer all the questions they can, as quickly as they can, but it might take until the next day.
Also, if two students ask the same question then we’ll delete one but put both students’ names on the one we keep. So your name may be there but not your exact words. The engineers may also have answered your question in their profile.
If you think your question hasn’t been answered because of a technical problem, please email emily@gallomanor.com for help.
I got an email saying my question was a duplicate, what does that mean?
If you’ve received an email from us saying we’ve duplicated your question, it means that we’ve found another question which is either the same as, or very similar to yours, so we’ve merged them together so that the engineers aren’t answering the same questions over and over again. However your name will still appear under the question, when the engineers answers it.
Why have I been kicked out of the chat?
Occasionally when a student is being disruptive, rude or generally not following the rules of the chat, they will be kicked out by a moderator, this will be a final measure and comes after warnings.
If you find yourself kicked out you will not be banned from other chats, however the ban will last 90 minutes. Perhaps enough time to come up with some golden questions for your next chat?
I’m having problems with the website and getting in to the chat. What should I do?
Lots of problems can be caused by cookies not working on your machine. Make sure cookies are turned on.
You may occasionally not be able to see the latest pages or answers. Usually clicking refresh will sort it out. If not, try clearing the cache (Tools>options>clear cache or clear/delete private data, in most browsers).
There are a few things that are most likely stopping the chat system from working. They are quite techy so you may want to refer your IT support technician to this page:
1. The chat system uses Javascript. You need to have Javascript enabled and this is normal.
2. Many schools use net filters based on keywords such as chat. Please ask for www.imanengineer.ie to be whitelisted.
Please contact us on +441225 667922 if you’ve checked this and it still doesn’t work.
If you’re still having problems please email support@imanengineer.ie or visit the staffroom between 9-5 during the event.
Why are the engineers in the Gallery in that order?
The engineers appear in the Gallery in reverse alphabetical order (we mean, people called Z first and people called A last). This is because research has shown that people whose names begin with letters near the start of the alphabet tend to be more successful in life (www.quirkology.com/UK/Experiment_surname.shtml). Maybe because they are always first in lists!
Here at I’m an Engineer we think life should be more fair, and we try to do our bit to make it fairer. So we are putting the people from the end of the alphabet first for once.
Have you got a video that explains this more easily?
Yes we do!
We’ve put together this great video that we think sums things up nicely! Take a look – you may even have a starring role if you’ve participated before!
I’m a student, can I win anything?
In each zone we pick a student winner at the end of the event. This is the young person who, in the opinion of the moderators, has asked the best questions and participated fully in the event!
The student winner gets €25 iTunes vouchers. Headteachers in the past have made a big thing out of presenting the vouchers to the winning students so encourage yours to be active out of class and it could be someone from your school who wins in your zone!
You or your students can also print off individual participation certificates for your students from their profiles. These help the students feel they have done something important. They show who the student voted for, and give investigating achievements for asking questions and decision-making achievements for voting.
Why are you asking me to give feedback?
All feedback is greatly appreciated. We take everything you tell us on board and this helps us to make the event even better each time. Positive comments are also very welcome and make us feel good about all the work that goes in.
Thank you.
You can also ring us on +44 1225 667922 to give feedback.
We look forward to hearing from you!
When are the evictions and how many times can I vote?
There will be no evictions until the final week of the event, however you are given one vote in your week then another final vote at the end, so you will have 2 chances to vote. And remember you’re voting for who you want to win.
What’s all this about €500 prize money?
The winning engineer in each zone (as voted for by the students) wins €500 to be spent on a communication project, to publicise or communicate what engineers do.
This could mean lots of things – visiting schools, arranging class visits to a laboratory, creating a website, taking an exhibit to a festival, printing leaflets, making a video or podcasts, commissioning a poem, painting a mural – any form of communication.
Some previous examples include:
- Buying Raspberry Pis and going into primary schools to train teachers in coding
- Running a competition for school pupils to build model wind turbines and funding a trip for the winners to a skyscraper
- Developing a hands on model of pumping systems to take around local schools
- Setting up a website that provides free resources for teachers about engineering
- Travel expenses for visits to schools, or school visits to engineering firms
Usually when engineers win a grant they have to write a long evaluation report detailing how they spent they money. But we don’t ask them to do that. We ask the engineers to write a short report that we’ll put up on the site, to tell the students who voted for them how they spent the money.
A couple of examples of winners reports are Mark Greaves, and Andy Hearn.
Most of all we hope that the engineers enjoy using the money for communication!