Shawn Brown

Shawn Brown, age 27, is an award-winning Engineer, Designer & Maker of things. He works on lots of creative engineering projects and designs and builds crazy contraptions; from a flame-throwing piano to a superhero suit that fires custard.
For his A Level Design & Technology project Shawn built a road legal, solar powered, electric trike, a project that won him the 2010 National Engineering Competition and the title of UK Young Engineer of the Year.

Shawn is dyslexic and has always struggled with his memory, particularly in exams. However despite such challenges in school, Shawn got into University off the back of his practical engineering achievements and he speaks passionately about the need for creative, hands-on projects in education. In 2015 he trained as a dyslexia adviser, to raise awareness of dyslexia and to help others obtain appropriate support. Since then he’s delivered dyslexia awareness talks and workshops to countless organisations and businesses and he continues to speak widely about the advantages of neurodiversity and the fact that dyslexia is about more than just difficulties with reading, writing and spelling.

Shawn co-presents the YouTube channel Kids Invent Stuff, with fellow Room54 speaker Ruth Amos. Every month the pair set a different invention challenge and invite 5-11 year olds to send in their ideas for inventions. They then pick one idea to build and test on camera; to show the fun, creative nature of engineering and to engage young people into STEAM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths).

Unusually Shawn has both a Masters degree in Engineering and a Masters in Fine Art, and he is outspoken on the value of creative and artistic skills for science and engineering. He regularly delivers practical engineering workshops in schools and combines his engineering experience, his creative passion and his knowledge of dyslexia to inspire young people to embark on exciting careers.

Speaking Topics
Engineering / design
Inventor
Neurodiversity
Innovation
Science
Learning differences

“Shawn was an authentic presenter. He took time to inform the audience of the subject matter whilst also engaging everyone. His passion for innovation and care for people who are neurodiverse really came through.  Initially seemed to be a slow start but this felt right given the complexity of the subject and made the session as a whole more manageable. Shawn was very clear and explained things well, making a complex topic very approachable.  We all felt positive that we could do something about the issues Shawn discussed and learned a lot from his talk.”  AstraZeneca

“Shawn was absolutely brilliant – the presentation was perfect for the age group.”

“The event went brilliantly and Shawn was fantastic!”

“Shawn Brown’s presentation was perfect for our event focussing on the UK energy mix. His knowledge of the industry, in addition to his practical experience meant he was able to deliver his presentation in an engaging and interactive way and this was demonstrated by the questions the students asked throughout. Shawn was brilliant to work with from the briefing to the delivery – very impressed!”   URENCO Comms Team – The Annual Richie Lecture

Shawn's TEDx – https://youtu.be/RX6Zy45_AMw