Edinburgh Science Festival, the world’s first festival of science and technology, is pleased to partner with the Royal Academy of Engineering to this year host acclaimed artist Kelly Anna’s sculpture ‘What Makes an Engineer?’ which represents engineer Alice Kan who played a key role in the manufacture of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The sculpture will be displayed at City Art Centre as part of DiscoveryLab, its first display outside of London. Created to mark National Engineering Day 2024, the sculpture was part of an art project to celebrate inspirational engineers and represents Alice Kan, a mechanical engineer who played an important role in the manufacture of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Starting with a production line and team of one, Alice led efforts to grow the team, develop the process, set up manufacture and produce 100 million doses for use in the UK. Her work continues today developing Ebola vaccines.
The pivotal question – what makes an engineer? – rings as strongly today as ever before with women still making up only 15.7% of UK engineering workforce – down from 16.5% in 2023 – and a lack of visible role models is seen as a key factor in why fewer women are considering a career in engineering. By showcasing a story as inspiring as Alice Kan’s, Kelly Anna’s sculpture champions the fact that engineering is for everyone.
The sculpture encapsulates Alice’s remarkable journey, achievements, and personal resilience in engineering and vaccine production.
The central, dynamic figure of Alice stands strong with an empowered posture, symbolizing her resilience, leadership, and unwavering determination. Alice is shown looking upward, representing hope, optimism, and her visionary approach to the future.
The statue is constructed from various blocks and shapes, representing her ability to build teams and overcome obstacles.
These blocks embody persistence and inclusiveness—demonstrating how diverse perspectives come together to create strength.
An accompanying QR code will take visitors to an augmented reality experience created by Atlantic Productions.
Edinburgh Science Festival is the first and still one of Europe’s biggest science festivals, taking place over the Easter holidays, between 5 and 20 April.
With the 2025 theme of Spaceship Earth, the Festival continues its years-long commitment to Programming for the Planet. It urges everyone to live like an astronaut, a battle to learn from the constraints of living on a space station where resources are impossibly constrained, and every gram of material and watt of energy is precious.
Edinburgh Science Director and CEO, Hassun El-Zafar said: “When programming our Festival we focus on ways to combine art and science, as art is often the most powerful way to bring science to life.
“By engaging the imagination, complex concepts or scientific achievements become all the easier to understand. We’re delighted that the Royal Academy of Engineering has chosen our Festival to showcase What Makes an Engineer? for the first time outside of London – a chance for all our visitors, young and old, to be inspired by Alice Kan’s work saving lives as an engineer.”
Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “Engineering is driven by countless unsung heroes and teams who shape our world in profound ways every day.
“the UK, modern engineers—despite their remarkable contributions to our society—remain noticeably absent from public statues and artworks. I am delighted we can bring this sculpture of Alice Kan to Edinburgh Science Festival and I hope it will help to inspire young people to join this creative, rewarding profession, which improves lives every day.”
The worlds of STEM and arts also combine in this year’s Festival programme for a selection of genre-defying events. Hear exclusive first readings at Sci-Fi Futures (8 April), a creative collision of science fiction and science fact, bringing together Scottish writers Martin MacInnes, L R Lam and Eris Young, and Professor of Applied Space Technology and Scotland’s leading space expert Prof Malcolm Macdonald.
This exciting collaboration between Edinburgh Science Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival commissioned three brand new writings envisioning a utopian future truly living within our means.
Theoretical physicist and industrial musician Prof Bob Coecke is here to open our minds and ears with Quantum Music (10 April). Bob illustrates how the coming quantum revolution can be used to compose new kinds of music and will “play his guitar on a quantum computer”. In The Sound of Galaxies (16 April), an interactive sound-forward session, you’ll listen to galaxy data and gain a deeper appreciation for the innovative ways scientists explore the Universe.
Can arid lands be spaces for new ecological world-making? Desert Future (11 April) is a film screening of Wanuri Kahiu’s Pumzi and discussion explores climate fiction, environmental humanities, history of science and Black/Africana studies.
The Edinburgh Conservation Film Festival (19 April) is a celebration of conservation stories from around the world that will inspire, engage, and inform you about some of the many projects helping to protect the world’s biodiversity.
Visit Dynamic Earth’s Planetarium for Planetarium Lates: Earth From Above (10 – 12 April & 17- 19 April) to enjoy an evening of extra-terrestrial entertainment as they screen some of your favourite science films including Gravity, Apollo 13 and The Martian.
More STEAM highlights here
Edinburgh Science is a world expert in producing live science events and the 2025 Festival is the prime example of the power of bringing people together to explore the fascinating world of science, technology, engineering and maths and arts.
Tickets are on sale now on edinburghscience.co.uk.
2025 programme in a PDF form here
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