A group of Brownies have been inspired to consider careers in engineering after visiting campus to discover robotics, 3D printing labs, and carnival costumes – and earn their Inventors badge.
Eighteen Brownies aged between seven and ten years old visited the University to see the manufacturing, robotics and 3D printing labs in the School of Mechanical Engineering.
Professor of Applied Creativity, Briony Thomas, along with three technicians, introduced the children to engineering in action by showing them a robot dog, laser cutters and some magnificent carnival costumes which were created for Light Night celebrations in Leeds by engineers at the University.
The visit was coordinated by Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Sophie Hutchinson, who leads a Brownie unit in Far Headingley when she’s not researching Spinal Biomechanics.
After spending time on campus, the Brownies were tasked with building either a sustainable carnival costume or a robot which could help in some way.
Inspired by their tours of the robotics labs, some girls chose to create a pizza vending machine and a homework-doing robot.
Their hard work earned them an Inventors badge to add to their collection of Brownie achievements.
Sophie, also known as Snowy Owl to the Brownies, said: “These girls are all under 10, and at that age, your world view of careers is really just what your parents and family do.
“If you don’t have those role models to show you different paths, you don’t have any exposure to alternative careers.
“In the past, the Brownies have said to me that I don’t look like an engineer – so I wanted to show them what an engineer really is, and what they do.
“I didn’t know what an engineer was until I was about 14, so it’s really fantastic these girls are learning about this at such a young age. It was so important to show them that engineering isn’t just about building sites and hard hats, but actually high-tech labs and making a difference to people’s lives.
“It’s lovely to think that I might be that role model for these girls, and their feedback was so positive – they’ve definitely been inspired by their visit to campus.”
Since their visit, Sophie says the Brownies have been asking lots of questions about engineers and the group have been discussing famous female engineers such as Ada Lovelace, who is considered the first computer programmer, Sarah Guppy, the first woman to patent a bridge, and Stephanie Kwolek, who invented super-strong synthetic fibre Kevlar.
Briony, who is Deputy Director at the Leeds Institute for Societal Futures, brings together arts and engineering and works across both the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Design. She will be running the project again with Brownie groups around Light Night 2026, and hopes to share her learnings more widely to benefit young girls.
She said: “It was wonderful to share with the Brownies how engineering and creativity come together through our research, and their enthusiasm was a joy to see.
“Collaborations like this are so important - they remind us that universities are part of their communities, not separate from them. By opening our doors to local groups, we can spark curiosity, share our expertise in meaningful ways, and help young people see themselves as future innovators. Projects like the Brownies’ Inventor badge show how much can happen when we work together.”
Technicians James Watkins, Kacper Dobras and Hardy Whiteley-Boocock supported the Brownies visit to campus. The project was supported by UK RAS STEPS, a community-driven research technology platform to support Research Technical Professionals working in robotics and autonomous systems (RAS) across the UK.
Further information
For more information, please contact Becky Pascoe in the University of Leeds press office on r.pascoe@leeds.ac.uk