John Smeaton’s life began and ended in Leeds, yet his influence reached right around the globe. A self-taught engineer, instrument maker and astronomer, Smeaton is recognised as the father of civil engineering in the UK. Smeaton was the inspiration for Smeaton300, an artistic programme which spanned art, physics, maths, space, computing and technology to inspire people to learn from the Leeds lad who is name-checked on the NASA website. 2024 is the 300th anniversary of Smeaton’s birth and the programme is still running now, supported by the University of Leeds.
The Creative Learning Team at Leeds 2023 developed two John Smeaton CREST Awards, enabling students to develop their knowledge and skill in STEM in creative tasks all inspired by John Smeaton’s life and work. These resources can be downloaded for free here.
A MyLearning story was also produced by LEEDS 2023 and Foxglove, to provide teachers and students with more information on John Smeaton.
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