THE MAKING OF ENGGEN 101
2023 Semester 1 Break (15 POINTS)
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Course Description
ENGGEN 101 is a brand new mockumentary web-series conceptualised by Felicia Indrawidjaja that is proud to be the only engineering sitcom in the world! The series follows four third-year students as they are selected to be a part of a show documenting the life of engineers—as they encounter many, MANY hiccups along the way. However, as engineering students are told in first year: “Engineers are, first and foremost, problem solvers”, so surely the gang of Meg, Pauline, Aryan, and Ella will be able to sail through all these challenges without issue…right?
Course Overview
What do engineers even do? What do they learn? Why engineering? How engineering? These, and many more worthwhile questions, are answered in ENGGEN 101, the show made by (mostly) engineering students, for engineering students, because if doctors and lawyers get cool TV shows, why can’t we?
The show was created by Felicia Indrawidjaja with the intention of debunking stereotypes to encourage more women and minorities to consider engineering as a viable career path. It was written by Indrawidjaja and Brigit Kelly, produced by Kaur Divraj, Amanda Wang, and Sara Christiaan. The crew of 20 students filmed all five eight-minute episodes in ten hectic days during midsem break.
Course Requirements
Prerequisite – be willing to make fun of engineers (easy enough).
Prereading –
Capabilities developed in this course
Capability 1: Learning how to nail a shot in one take.
Capability 2: Not breaking on camera.
Capability 3: Photoshop incredibly realistic careers fair posters.
Capability 4: Pretend to act drunk.
Capability 5: WHIP PANS.
Graduate Profile: This course is a one-way ticket to being a well-rounded engineer with special skills in filmmaking and making rat references effectively.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Develop the skills to work together as a team to achieve a common goal, even if everyone is running off minimal sleep.
- Demonstrate an understanding of, and apply, the principles of filmmaking to scenes where basketballs are being thrown at faces or running through Albert Park pretending to be a cat.
- Apply key understandings of engineers to accurately depict the engineering experience, complete with 3D printing, coding, Bernoulli’s Equation, and the occasional study session in Shads.
Teaching Team/Meet the Characters:
Meg: Meg is a fifth-generation engineer in her family, but has decided to veer off her prescribed path of civil engineering and is currently in her third year of studying computer systems engineering. Meg’s best friend is her trusty binder, and you do not want to get in between this girl and her grades/attempts to win her father’s approval.
Pauline: Pauline is a third-year biomedical engineer who moved to Auckland from Hamilton (but don’t tell her we told you that) who originally wanted to be a vet but decided to change course and go into engineering after realising she doesn’t really want to be around horse people. She’s witty, no-nonsense, and doesn’t have time to deal with anyone’s crap, especially her flatmate’s.
Aryan: Aryan’s the name, drinking’s the game. You’re more likely to find this third-year mechatronics student at a stein than at lectures, although he does also enjoy a good binge of Battlestar Galactica. Hopefully the show can teach him some valuable time management skills, because that window washer project and MM3 assignment aren’t going to finish themselves.
Ella: Ella is the glue that holds this crazy group together, the sunshine of the show. She wanted to pursue art, but after her mum’s car came in contact with a plethora of potholes in her hometown of New Plymouth, she decided to study civil engineering. Ella never has a bad word to say about anyone, and not even the horrors of engineering can break her bright spirit.
Workload Expectations
This course is NOT a standard 15 point course, and as such, it plays by its own rules when it comes to its workload.
Time commitment – 10 days straight, 8 hours per day at minimum. Overtime if above the line.
Delivery Mode
The show will be available to watch on the ENGGEN 101 YouTube channel. The first episode premiered on July 21st, with new episodes coming out weekly.
Learning Resources
Required reading is as follows:
Course materials and more information about the show are available on the show’s Instagram page (@enggen101), and TikTok (@enggen.101).