Roma Agrawal
Case Study: Roma Agrawal
“I don’t think there are that many professions where you get that sense that you’ve made a thing that people are going to interact with. It’s extremely, extremely rewarding!”
Engineering: the practical side of physics and maths
When Roma was a child she loved making and breaking things, and wanted to be an astronaut. She grew up in India and studied physics and maths at school as these subjects are seen as very prestigious and could lead to many careers. That said, Roma remembers that nobody suggested she might consider a career in engineering. It was not until she was studying physics at Oxford University and got a summer job working at a physics laboratory that she realised engineering brings together mathematics and science with the practicality of making stuff: that is what she wanted to do!
“It’s intrinsic to humans to be engineers … to me every human-made object is engineered. Every time you pick a material or tool and change things in some way, that is engineering.”
Engineering an iconic building
Roma lived in the US from the age of 16 before moving to London. She says that living in different countries made her open minded about finding different ways of doing things in engineering.
In London, Roma spent six years as a structural engineer working on an iconic building, The Shard. She worked on the building’s foundations, a very complex task which required a lot of collaboration amongst different teams. They had to build the foundations in a very tight space and make sure they didn’t disrupt nearby buildings, or the London underground.
“If the foundations don’t work very well, you will get the Leaning Tower of Pisa!”
Being a structural engineer
Roma describes the role of a structural engineer as follows:
“Structural engineers ensure buildings and bridges stand up. We use maths and physics to think about all the forces that are attacking the structure: so gravity is pulling it downwards, wind is pushing it sideways and in some places, earthquakes are trying to rattle it. We convert all of these forces into numbers and we then think about what materials we want the structure to be built from. Often the foundation is concrete because it’s a very robust material.”
Thinking of the invisible and the power of sketching
Roma often finds herself thinking of the invisible side of structures, such as their foundations, wires, or even sewage systems. It blows her mind how complex it is to put a building together, let alone an entire functional city! She is fascinated by bricks (and likes to touch them) and she is surprised how we still rely on this old technology to build modern structures. If she had a superpower it would the ability to control concrete and swish it into any shape she wants. One piece of advice she has to offer:
“I often encourage young people who are considering engineering … build up some confidence in your sketching and drawing skills because it’s a great way to communicate.”
A published author
Roma is currently working as a writer and communicator and has published books for adults and children about engineering. She uses her good communication skills as an engineer and writer to make engineering more accessible to all. She says people often forget that engineering is for humans and it’s helped us advance as a civilisation. Her latest children’s book tells the stories behind awesome structures across the world.
Inventive podcast
Roma is featured in an episode of the Inventive Podcast:
Tag Archive for: architecture
Paper Pillars
Overview
During this investigation you will discover which shape of paper tower can hold the most books before they collapse. All you need is paper, a ruler, a pencil and some sticky tape and you are ready to start.
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better.
What to do
Step 1
Your investigation begins by making three paper pillars: a cylinder, a cuboid and a triangular prism.
To make your triangular prism, turn your paper width ways (landscape) and divide it into 3 with your ruler. If you are using A4 paper, this is about 10 cm per section.
Step 2
Now fold along the lines to make your triangular prism pillar.
Step 3
To make your cuboid pillar, turn a second piece of paper width ways (landscape). Fold the paper in half, then fold each half in to the centre.
To make your cylinder pillar you just need to stick the two short edges of your paper together.
Step 4
The tricky bit is sticking your shapes together.
Put one of the short edges of your paper flat on the table or surface you are using. Cut a piece of sellotape and stick it along the short edge of your paper, so it is half on, half off, as shown in the photograph.
Smooth the down the tape on the paper. Try not to stick it to the table!
Step 5
Turn the paper over so that the sticky side of the is upwards. Put the other short edge of the paper on top of the sticky taped edge, matching the corners and edge together, as if you were folding the page in half.
Don’t push down!
Instead, carefully fold the sticky tape over the edge to stick the two short sides of the paper together.
Step 6
Time for testing!
Which pillar do you predict will hold the most books?
Put your first paper pillar, upright in a space on a flat surface.
Very carefully, place one book (or whatever you are using as a weight) on top of your pillar. Make sure the pillar is right in the centre of the book.
Keep adding books until the pillar can no longer withstand the weight and collapses.
Step 7
Test all three of your paper pillars and see which one can hold the most books. You could record your results in a table like the one in the photograph.
Step 8
Try making some different shapes.
If you are using A4 paper the width is about 30 cm, so you could make a pentagonal prism by dividing your page into five sections of 6 cm, a hexagonal prism by making six sections of 5 cm or a decagonal prism with 10 sections of 3 cm.
We made our octagonal prism by folding the paper in half, into quarters and each quarter in half again to make eighths. Test each one and record your results on your table.
Things to discuss
Time to look at your results table.
Which pillar held the most books? Which pillar held the least? Why do you think that is?
Does the number of corners (vertices) and faces make a difference? Do shapes with more vertices and faces hold more books?
Do odd numbers or even numbers of vertices and faces make any difference to the results?
Have you noticed any patterns of your own?
How it works
Your investigation was about creating the most support for your weight using the material available. Even though each of your paper pillars was made out the exactly the same material, you probably found that the cylinder was the strongest. This is because each point on the surface of a cylinder is an equal distance from it’s centre so the weight of the books, or load, can be equally spread through the pillar. With the cuboid and triangular prism pillars, some points (the folds) are further away from the centre and are areas of weakness. Cylinders don’t have any folds, so they don’t have any points of weakness.
Other things to try
What happens when you test different size pillars?
What do you think will happen if you make your pillars taller or shorter?
If you are using A4 paper, turn it length ways (portrait) and repeat the experiment.
What happens if you make your pillars shorted? You could try cutting your paper in half and in quarters and repeating the investigation.
You can record your results in a table like the one in the photograph so you can compare them easily.
Do taller or shorter pillars hold more weight?
Did you spot any patterns in your results?
How high can you build using your pillars?
You may have noticed in buildings that two pillars or columns hold up a beam or lintel that supports the wall above.
You could now test how tall a structure you can build using your pillars as supports and your books as lintels.
Look back at your results and decide on the best shape and size pillar. This will be the one that held the most books. You will need to make quite a few pillars then start constructing!
How high did you get your structure?
How do you think you could improve your structure?
How could you make it more stable?
What else can you build?
You could try building different structures using your pillars and books.
Which was the tallest structure you built?
Which was the most stable?
Why do you think this is?
What you’ll need
- Paper – 3 pieces the same size and thickness. We used A4 but you can use any size.
- Sticky tape
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Books – these need to be about the same size and weight. You could use other objects of the same size and weight for your testing, e.g. coins or cutlery (don’t use anything that will smash!)
- Scissors (for the additional activities)
Duration
30 minutes or so.
Suitable for…
Age 4 and up, although younger children will need help and close supervision.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision when using scissors
- This activity causes the paper pillars to collapse. You will need to be in a large space on a surface that won’t be damaged by falling books or other items.
- Children may require close supervision during the testing phase to avoid getting in the way of falling books/other items.
Careers link – Architect
Architects plan and design structures such as houses, schools, office buildings, stadiums and shopping centres. They may even plan and design outdoor spaces. Architects need to visit the site location so they can visualise what their structure will look like, then prepared scaled drawings for the person employing them. Architects need to take into consideration factors such as environmental impact, planning laws and disability access.
The skills and attributes you need to be an architect are imagination, observation and organisation.
Buildings with pillars in our local area
There are lots of examples of pillars or columns in architecture. Look carefully at the shapes of the columns on these structures. Why do you think the different shaped pillars have been used?
Can you find any examples in your local area? You may find them in your street or you may find examples in nature.
Theatre Royal
City Hall
Newcastle Central Station
Grey’s Monument
Tyne Bridges
Dunston Staithes
If I Built a House
Overview
In this 20 minute activity, you and your child will listen to a story on YouTube about a boy who designs his dream home. Then you can use the story as inspiration to build your own house using materials you will already have at home. The activity takes about 20 minutes and is easy to set up. It’s suitable for ages 4 and up.
This page will print, but looks a little funky. Click the button for a PDF version which looks a bit better. This is a stop-gap while we work on a better solution!
What you’ll need
- Something to watch YouTube on
- A variety of materials from around your house
Duration
20 minutes.
Suitable for…
Age 4 and up.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: the activity involves building things, so there’s a trip hazard.
- If you’re using full tins, they might be a bit heavy if the house falls over.
What to do
Step 1: Watch the story together
Sit down and watch the story ‘If I Built a House’. If you can, find somewhere comfortable and watch it together.
Step 2: Talk about the story
Talk about the story. Ask:
- What was your favourite room in the house in the story? Why did you like it?
- What do you like about our house?
- Would you like to build a house like ours or a house like the one in the story?
You could listen to the story again and pause the video to look more closely at all the different rooms.
Step 3: Create your own house
Decide on the materials you are going to build your house from. This will depend on what you have available, and how big you want it to be.
For a small house you could use:
- Building blocks, Duplo, LEGO, or other construction toys
- Old greetings cards or playing cards
- Play Doh, or modelling clay
- Empty cardboard boxes, toilet or kitchen roll tubes, washed out yoghurt pots, margarine containers
- Tins and boxes of food
- Sticky tape, masking tape, pegs, blue tac to hold it together – or you could just balance it!
For a house you can get inside you can use:
- Blankets, towels, sheets or duvet covers
- Chairs, tables or bunk beds
- Pegs or string to hold things in place
- Large cardboard boxes
- Washing baskets and clothes driers
If building isn’t your thing, then you could draw your dream house instead.
A house built from tins and food packets.
Things to discuss
Once you’ve gathered your materials you can start to plan. You can ask:
- What do you think we should build first?
- What should we build it from?
- What else will we need?
- What else could we put in that room?
- How can we stick that together?
- Are there any more rooms we could build?
- What else does a house need?
Other things to try
- Drawing a picture of your house to add more detail
- Drawing a plan of your house, labelling the different rooms
- Building each room from different materials then joining them all together
More activities based on this story can be found on this page from Inventors of Tomorrow.
What you’ll need
- Something to watch YouTube on
- A variety of materials from around your house
Duration
20 minutes.
Suitable for…
Age 4 and up.
Safety notes
You know your children better than anyone, and you should judge whether they’re ready for this activity. You might want to think in particular about:
- Supervision: the activity involves building things, so there’s a trip hazard.
- If you’re using full tins, they might be a bit heavy if the house falls over.
