Inventive Podcast shines the spotlight on the true creativity of engineers

Professor Trevor Cox founded Inventive Podcast from the University of Salford where he specialises in acoustic engineering. Through the podcast, he interviews engineers from diverse backgrounds, emphasising the impact of engineers on the world. By bringing talented writers into the podcast, fact and fiction are intertwined so that engineering can be made more accessible to the public. Trevor shares with us some of the amazing guests that have been interviewed so far, and discusses the importance of engaging the public in engineering, to make this fascinating field more accessible and to demonstrate its hidden value to the world.

Q & A - Trevor Cox

Please introduce your background and expertise in acoustic engineering.

I’m Professor of Acoustics Engineering at the University of Salford and head of the Acoustics Research Centre. Some of my research is about improving speech communication, for example I currently work on the Clarity project, which is running machine learning challenges to improve hearing aids; a project improving the acoustic design of transparent facemasks has just finished, and previously I’ve researched the problems of poor acoustics within schools. I started off in physics, but my work now spans physical acoustics, machine learning and psychology. I can now include archaeoacoustics in the list, having investigated the acoustic properties of Stonehenge through a 1:12 scale model.

“Engineering often fails to tell its story well, and this is one reason that many people don’t understand what an engineer is, and what an engineer does.”

I have been active in public engagement for 25 years. I’m an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Engineering Engagement Champion and a past EPSRC Senior Media Fellow. I have presented science shows at the Royal Albert Hall, Purcell Rooms, and Royal Institution. I have also presented >25 documentaries for BBC radio including: “The Physicist’s Guide to the Orchestra.” For my popular science book Sonic Wonderland (in USA: The Sound Book), I won an Acoustical Society of America Science Writing Award in 2015. I have also written for National Geographical, The Guardian and New Scientist.

Why did you want to unite writers and engineers through Inventive Podcast?

Engineering is full of stories. It’s about people facing challenges and digging deep to overcome them. Unlike conventional action heroes, however, it is not how far they can jump or climb that saves the day. It’s how engineers apply complex scientific knowledge and practical expertise. Unfortunately, the technical depth that lets engineers achieve what they do, is also a barrier to public appreciation and understanding. Sadly, engineering often fails to tell its story well, and this is one reason that many people don’t understand what an engineer is, and what an engineer does. The media portrayal of engineering is also very disappointing, full of programmes obsessed with heavy engineering, history or engineering going wrong.

By bringing in writers I hoped to explore different ways of telling the story of engineering that would be more accessible to the public. The Inventive podcast mixes fact and fiction to explore new ways of telling the story of engineering. We’ve encouraged the writers to experiment, so we’ve seen lots of different approaches, including rap, poetry and short stories. These have explored dystopian futures, the surprising consequences of engineering and unusual personal stories of people in engineering.

How have different people and the University of Salford collaborated to make Inventive Podcast a reality?

The presenter (Trevor Cox), sound engineer (Adam Fowler) and animator (Annabeth Robinson) are all academics from the University. But we’re also working with experts at Overtone

Productions to research, record, create and publicise the podcasts (especially Gill Davies and Anna Scott-Brown). Alongside the podcast, there are linked curriculum and career materials being created by NUSTEM at Northumbria University (Carol Davenport, Antonio Portas and Jonathan Sanderson).

How has the podcast been going so far?

We’ve finished two series with 11 podcasts in total. Alongside meeting some amazing engineers and working with wonderful writers, a highlight was getting the podcast featured in the New Scientist.

We started series one with Electronics Engineer Shrouk El-Attar. She’s an inspirational refugee and campaigner for LGBT rights, who was awarded the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) Prize for her work in femtech, smart tech that improves the lives of cis women and trans men. Award-winning writer and poet Tania Hershman created a hybrid work drawing on Shrouk’s story: Human Being As Circuit Board, Human Being as Dictionary. This combines fiction, poetry and non-fiction. There is beautiful and poetic imagery, “human being as circuit board”, and exploration of language, “human being as dictionary,” building to a climax like nothing you’d get in a straight interview podcast.

In series two I interviewed Larissa Suzuki, who is Head of Data and AI/Machine Learning at Google and who has won numerous awards. The interview delves deep into the ethics of collecting data on citizens for smart cities, which inspired Author Tim Maughan’s short story, My City is Not a Problem. This wittily explores a fictional AI system built to solve London’s problems, which seems to think it knows better than the politicians that commissioned the algorithm!

What are your next plans for 2022? Is there a particular kind of an impact are you hoping to make, from academia out to wider society?

The current focus is on the rolling out of the curriculum and career materials to schools through NUSTEM and evaluating the work. Another key target for 2022 is building the audience, with so many podcasts on offer, it is difficult to get yourself heard. We’d hope to use live events to get the word out, but COVID has made that difficult.

We’re currently working on some animations with students at University of Salford to help with the marketing. I’m also starting to look for ways to fund series 3, as the EPSRC funding is ending soon.

Ultimately, we’re looking to foster inventive ways of telling Engineering stories that connect to a broader audience; inspire public understanding of who engineers are and what they do; inspire diversity in engineering through diverse role-models and encourage future generations of engineers.

Final thoughts

Out of a background in physics, Professor Trevor Cox delved into the world of acoustic engineering, but didn’t stop there. Beyond academia, Trevor is an avid, experienced science communicator, being the host of Inventive Podcast, on a mission to share the personal stories of engineers, while making engineering more accessible to everyone. Follow the links below to have a listen to the podcast!

Professor Trevor Cox is a Professor of acoustics engineering at the University of Salford, having founded the Inventive Podcast. He is also head of the Acoustics Research Centre.

Links

Podcast: www.inventivepodcast.com Twitter: @PodInventive Facebook: www.facebook.comInventivePodcast Instagram: @inventivepodcast