Turn on to the joys of engineering

Go Kids:Engineers Week begins on Monday and there's a long list of family-friendly events taking place all around the country. As part of the idea is to make the public realise that engineering isn't a dull and boring profession, a huge effort is put into to emphasising just how diverse it is.

The big day is the Family Fun Day next Saturday, February 19th, with a huge calendar of free events. Some are hands-on workshops, so space is restricted and advanced booking is advisable.

Top choices include the Titanic Day out at Queens Island, Belfast. Walk along the full length of the dock to understand the size and scale of the Titanic and visit the massive Pump House. Interpretative panels, archive film footage, and computer generated imagery tell the story of the people, the ships and the technology and engineering involved. From noon.

The Air-Mazing Interactive and Explosive Exhibition at Engineers Ireland, 22 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, where, among other things, you can fire a piece of potato at more than 300km/h to see how compressed air might just be the fuel of the future or experience what it is like to go to the edges of space.

Demonstration Day at the National Print Museum, Beggars Bush Barracks, Haddington Road, Dublin 4, where practical demonstrations of the Intertype, Linotype, Monotype, Shaw Pen Ruling Machine and many other machines will be given by active retired typesetters and printers.

• See engineersweek.ie