Andrew with a 3D "Augmented Reality" bearbot.
Andrew is a Brisbane based consulting engineer with qualifications in Chemical and Environmental Engineering. He is passionate about the integral role of engineering in environmental management and sustainability and is a Climate Reality Leader.
Children are very interested in the things that engineers do yet there are very few engineers in children's literature. Consequently, Engibear and his friends Engilina and the Bearbot were created as a "friendly faces" of engineering - a way to introduce engineering to young children.
Andrew considers himself to be very lucky because Benjamin Johnston, a Sydney based Architect, liked the Engibear concept and agreed to illustrate the first Engibear book Engibear's Dream. Things worked out well and Engibear's Dream was awarded the President's Prize at the 2012 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards. Andrew and Ben have now completed their second book Engibear's Bridge and are working on a third book Engibear's Trains.
During school visits Andrew King delivers presentations about creating the Engibear books and engineering and facilitates technical activities to introduce students to engineering. The mixture of presentations and activities is tailored for each visit.
Presentation topics include:
- The process of creating the Engibear books. A journey of about 20 years from an early family story through to publication.
- The importance of engineering in our daily lives; including interesting engineering examples from the past and present and some future engineering opportunities.
- Bridges -- a short history and overview (they truly are fascinating).
Andrew is also very happy to talk about sustainability.
Technical activities include:
- Technical drawing -- students create their own robot-like characters complete with technical specifications.
- Paper bridge building -- students design and create bridges with paper and sticky tape (the bridges should meet the specifications provided and pass a load test).A bridge drawing exercise is available for younger students.
- Paper plane making -- students design and make paper planes which must be flown to safely land at a model of Munnagong airport.
Andrew also brings various models of the characters (Engibear, Engilina and the Bearbot) and the Munnasaurus Bridge and explains how these models were made.
Andrew is so passionate, enthusiastic and dynamic and his presentations are very engaging, inspiring and educational. He maintained interest for a full hour with our young children 3-5 years brilliantly. The children love his books and respond to his enthusiasm. There is so much to learn, explore and discover in them.
C&K Paddington Community Kindy - August, 2017C&K Paddington Community Kindy - August, 2017Andrew King
We recently booked Andrew King for the Robotronica event at QUT Gardens Point. Andrew's storytelling style fitted perfectly with the First 5 Forever early literacy program. Andrew engaged in conversational reading with the children, discussed the illustrations, brought along characters from his books and encouraged the children to draw their own Bear Bot. He also brought along stickers and design paper for the children to use. I would recommend Andrew King to other organisations and would be only too happy to book him in the future.
Brisbane City Council Library Services - August, 2017Brisbane City Council Library Services - August, 2017Andrew King
Andrew's visit last week was a very positive experience for all involved. He has such a calm, relaxed and informative manner with the students!
Andrew King - Hilder Road State School, July, 2015.Andrew King - Hilder Road State School, July, 2015.Andrew King
Thank you for suggesting Andrew King for our P-2 cohort. He was outstanding. We could have had him for the whole school. He engaged so well with the children. They love his books even more now he has been out to visit.
Andrew King - Chatswood Hills State School, August, 2015Andrew King - Chatswood Hills State School, August, 2015Andrew King
All of the students were engaged. He appealed to our Preps and then kept the Year 6’s and 7’s very busy in a building activity. He was very generous with his time and interacted very well with the students.
Andrew King - Mater Dei Primary School, August, 2014.Andrew King - Mater Dei Primary School, August, 2014.Andrew King