Passion and persistence from Jane Howell Lombardi, chief communications officer for the American Society of Civil Engineers, were critical in bringing “Dream Big: Engineering Our World,” an IMAX movie about engineering, to the big screen. The film attracted 1.4 million viewers during its 2017 showings and has been booked into 80 theaters in the U.S. and other countries. The film has positively affected young viewers’ opinions about the field, independent research confirms. Now, Lombardi and the ASCE team have a new goal: to get a DVD of the film, supporting educational materials and teaching guides into every school in the U.S.
Lombardi in 2011 attended a Liberty Science Center content symposium that discussed using giant-screen IMAX movies to make STEM fields attractive to students. She brought the idea back to ASCE and kept pushing it. Developed around research and audience testing about what it takes to inspire kids, the film, which opened in February, focuses on young engineers and how their individual creativity is helping to change the world. The “Dream Big” program also features free educational tool kits, including lesson plans about engineering and 10 supplementary short videos on specific teaching topics such as “lean and green” and “wind engineering.”