In 2015 Catherine worked with structural engineering colleagues to develop two activities for primary school children, aiming to increase awareness of engineering professions among young people at primary schools in London.
Architectural visualisation of the Garden Bridge – credit Arup
The Garden Bridge Challenge: based on the Garden Bridge project, pupils designed bridges to support a “garden” and explore the balance between engineering and aesthetics. Engineers gave a short presentation on basic structural shapes and types of bridge, then pupils designed bridges to span between two desks, which were tested to destruction – the most fun part of the activity!
Bridges were scored based on:
• strength (how much weight can it hold?)
• defection (how far does it move when loaded?)
• weight (how much material was used to build it?)
• aesthetics (how nice does it look?)
Certificate for Best Bridge Design
