The whynotchemeng (wnce) campaign was started in 2001by IChemE as a response to a rapid decline in the number of students applying for and accepting places for chemical engineering degrees. The campaign is based upon an informative website http://www.whynotchemeng.com/; chemical engineers who attend schools careers events as volunteers, and supporting literature. It promotes chemical engineering as a positive career choice, offering a varied and interesting job that can also benefit society.
The good news is that the campaign has been very successful. We have seen a 71% increase in applications since 2002 and a 55% increase in the number of students choosing process and biochemical engineering as a degree, reaching an all time high in 2007 of 1455 compared to 940 in 2001. This is a much higher percentage increase that other similar disciplines such as mechanical engineering have seen so we believe our campaign has been very successful.
We are now approaching phase 3 of our campaign which will run from 2009-2012 and are seeking sponsorship from Universities and industry to enable it to continue. The main focus of the campaign will continue to target students about to make a degree choice. There is however a decreasing number of students now studying science and maths subjects beyond GCSE, this means that the pool of students available for us to promote chemical engineering to is getting smaller. The new extended campaign will address this issue by supporting other stakeholders and government initiatives to increase the uptake of these subjects.
As a sponsor you will be lending your support to a campaign with a proven track record in increasing the supply of talented students into the chemical engineering profession and you will benefit from raising your company profile amongst students considering chemical engineering as a degree.
We have three levels of sponsorship available to potential sponsors dependent upon the financial commitment they are willing to make over that 4 year period. The benefits of the sponsorship packages vary according and include:
- Company logo on the employers area of the website (This site has the most page views with over 7000 since its launch in July 2007)
- Enhanced listing in the sector area of the site
- Link from listing to an employee profile
- Inclusion of employee case study on the Times of our Lives section of the website
- Company information included in advertising articles in publications such as The Times ‘What next after school’ and student careers magazine
We can also offer a bespoke sponsorship package for organisation wishing to sponsor particular events or initiatives.
For more information get in touch:
Julie Pollard
Whynotchemeng Campaign Manager
IChemE
jpollard@icheme.org
tel: 01788 534459