Lockdown game changer for engineering

28 April, 2020

The launch of Skills Miner, from Enginuity, the new engineering skills organisation charged with creating skills solutions for individuals, educators and employers to help close the skills gap, has been brought forward from the summer to allow thousands of people in lockdown to have fun – and find out if they’ve got what it takes to transit from the virtual to the real world of engineering.

Sophisticated gaming techniques and algorithms monitor players’ performance and assesses their aptitude for a whole raft of engineering skills – from Observation and Assessment, Resilience, Digital Competency, Problem Solving and Critical Reasoning.

Players of the game, which is based on Minecraft and aimed at all ages, will be guided to various levels, given assessments of their cerebral and dexterity strengths (which crucially they may never have realised) – then given a call to action to help them make an appropriate move through the gateway from the virtual to the real world of engineering and manufacturing.

Second and third phase plans include providing other career boosting rewards for those that make progress to the top levels.

“This is a game changer” says Enginuity CEO Ann Watson. “We have through our innovation lab, the opportunity to change perceptions of engineering and the ability to help young people to discover hidden talents through the strengths and thinking they show whilst playing the game – and unlock rewarding careers in something they might not have even considered.

“There is a rich seam of potential engineering talent which, until now, has never reached the surface – Skills Miner is an entertaining and effective way of addressing that.”

Beta version users have told us that game feedback was the one and only time that they had been told that they were good at something.”

The game, set in an electric car showroom and factory is aimed at young people and may have particular benefits for the 800,000 young people in the UK who come from disadvantaged backgrounds – who would not otherwise be assessed by anyone in education, training and employment. Their talents often go unnoticed and unharnessed – and are of particular interest to game supporters – The Prince’s Trust.

The game, which is free to access, goes live on Tuesday April 28th. It will help boost neuro diversity and reveal a myriad of vocational pathways to work in the real world.