Engineers Ireland STEPS Ambassador, NASA Datanaut and Miss Universe Ireland 2019 Fionnghuala O’Reilly is set to inspire children across Ireland in her new role as a correspondent on the Emmy-nominated television series, Mission Unstoppable.

The CBS series, which aims to educate and inspire the next generation of STEM pioneers, will receive its Irish premiere as part of STEPS Engineers Week 2021, taking place nationwide from February 27 – March 5.

'Empower young women'

“Mission Unstoppable strives to empower young women and showcases the many ways they can impact the world through careers in STEM”, said O’Reilly.

“By providing children at home with the opportunity to explore great feats of engineering, technology and science by watching female STEM innovators on screen, we can send a clear message that a career in STEM offers all young people, regardless of gender, the opportunity to influence and engineer the world around them.”

Five exclusive episodes from the series will be available for students, teachers and families to watch during STEPS Engineers Week 2021, which takes place in a virtual setting for the first time.

Now in its 15^th year, the week-long celebration of the engineering profession in Ireland is managed by the Engineers Ireland’s STEPS programme – funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the Department of Education and industry leaders ARUP, ESB, Intel and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

The Engineers Ireland STEPS team has also made available additional resources for teachers, parents and children, such as specially-devised engineering activities and challenges that can be downloaded for a remote setting, including wind energy challenges, family friendly quizzes to determine who the ultimate engineer is, family trails which highlight some of Ireland’s great engineering feats, and STEM film and documentaries.

Additionally, O’Reilly has also donated STEM educational resources to three local schools in North Dublin to support further engagement and outreach and added: “I am incredibly proud to be STEPS Ambassador with Engineers Ireland and for my birthday, I wanted to raise funds to donate STEM resources for schools in my local community.

New STEM reading materials

"Thanks to donations from my friends, family and followers, three primary schools will now benefit from new STEM reading materials and activity packs that will help students dream, create and innovate like real engineers in their classroom.”

Caroline Spillane, director general of Engineers Ireland, said: “Engineers Ireland is a leading advocate for STEM education, inspiring curiosity, exploration, creativity and problem-solving in children from an early age.

"We are so pleased to collaborate with Fionnghuala to bring Mission Unstoppable to Irish shores for STEPS Engineers Week 2021. We hope that students, teachers and families will join us from February 27 – March 5 to explore the limitless opportunities a career in engineering can offer and learn about how engineers shape our world by watching Mission Unstoppable and engaging in our free activities and online events.”

To watch Mission Unstoppable and to download free resources, including engineering activities, shows and documentaries, visit: https://www.engineersireland.ie/schools/engineers-week