Brian McManus is the creator and producer of the Real Engineering YouTube channel. “My objective with Real Engineering is to make engineering accessible and fun for as many people as possible, while respecting the audience’s intelligence and ability to understand complex topics.
“We mostly cover aviation, aerospace, and energy, but occasionally veer into other subjects that catch my interest, like how airport security scanners work and why water isn’t allowed through them.”
Growing up, Brian had very little exposure to science or engineering. “I would have been one of the kids labelled with ‘learning disabilities’ in school, what we would now refer to as neurodivergence. I struggled with language, memory, and hyperactivity. Some things just consumed my thoughts – studying birds and drawing mostly. I loved playing with Lego and building scaled model planes. I was, and continue to be, a very visual learner. At the time, neurodivergence wasn’t something that was openly discussed or acknowledged in schools, so no-one ever connected the dots and channelled those talents.”
In his first year of secondary school, Brian was introduced to biology, and observing and drawing became a strength. “My linguistic memory is awful, but my visual memory is very strong. Being able to draw anatomy and experiments helped me immensely and I was suddenly doing well in tests. My individual learning style was helping me succeed. Biology was my strongest subject, so biomedical engineering was a natural choice in university in Galway. I followed that path and loved it. However, I graduated into the recession (2011) and struggled to get a job.”
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With a view to broadening his career options, Brian decided to study for a master’s degree in another subject he was obsessed with – flight. Armed with his biomedical and aeronautical engineering qualifications, Brian ended up working in the oil and gas sector. However, he soon realised he wanted to take his life in another direction.
YouTube success
“I booked a trip to Labuan, Malaysia during Chinese New Year (my job at the time was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). I locked myself in a hotel room for four days and taught myself the basics of animation. I went home and made my first YouTube video: Why are Plane Windows Round? That video went viral and gave me the kickstart I needed, which was great because I had already quit my job before I uploaded it.”
That first video led to the development of the Real Engineering YouTube channel and Throttle Media, Brian’s animation studio. Throttle is a design studio that provides modelling, animation, sound design, and science communication services to help businesses, particularly start-ups, to communicate the value of their products to potential investors and customers.
“I had built a team of engineers that also knew how to animate, and I recognised the value that had for engineering start-ups trying to communicate their mission to the world.”
Last year, Throttle produced animations of Firefly Aerospace’s lunar landers and their moon mission. The landers are designed to deliver small payloads to the moon’s surface. “These animations were used on the NASA livestream during the first successful commercial moon landing in history. Playing a tiny part in space exploration history was very special to my team and I.”
Creative leanings
Brian believes engineers are mathematically inclined artists. “I think every engineer is inherently creative. When the wheel was invented, that was a person presented with a problem they wanted to fix, and finding a solution for it. That is creation, art. You can’t dream an SR-71 Blackbird aircraft or the Golden Gate Bridge into existence without being creative.
“The little dopamine rush of solving a small problem, that’s what gets most of us into engineering, and it’s the exact feeling artists get when they deliver on the vision in their heads. It’s no coincidence that many of the most talented engineers I know got their start in music and the arts, only to later discover they also had a talent for engineering.”
Solutions for society
Brian hopes that Throttle Media and his YouTube channel support and encourage young people with the ideas and determination to respond to the many challenges facing our society today: “Climate change is forcing us to solve so many problems. How do we make concrete without releasing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? How do we replace fossil fuels in planes? Do we turn to hydrogen, biofuels or carbon capture and hydrocarbon synthesis? Our way of life, the entire planet’s way of life, is at stake. We need all the smartest people in the world working on that problem. If I introduce one of those people to a problem we need to solve and they solve it, I have achieved my mission.”
Engineers built that!
Brian sees MRI technology as a superb example of the creative spark that drives engineering: “MRIs use the most powerful magnets possible to align the atomic spin of all the hydrogen atoms in our body, and then measure how that spin decays to give us information about their position and what tissue they reside in.
“The way in which humans figured out how to combine superconducting magnets, signal processors, and quantum mechanics to build a machine like that is a truly under-appreciated marvel of the modern world that saves millions of lives. Doctors get all the credit. Engineers built that.”
Producing regular content for a YouTube channel makes for a relentless schedule but Brian believes engineering prepared him to put his head down and work. “It feels like I am perpetually in my fourth year of college these days. Just reading as much as possible, teaching myself as quickly as possible, to get a report in the form of a YouTube video out every two to three weeks. It’s hard work and the internet is the hardest grader I have ever encountered. Loving what I do definitely helps.”
Engineering: Where imagination meets impact
Engineering is a gateway to some of the most exciting and diverse careers in the world — from biomedical engineers designing life-saving devices to civil engineers shaping the infrastructure we depend on every day. It unlocks global opportunities, limitless career growth, and the skills to thrive in any sector.
Engineers Ireland supports engineers at every stage of their career through world-class professional development, accreditation, learning, and networking. Our members play a central role in addressing society’s most urgent challenges – advancing sustainability, influencing policy, and driving meaningful progress.
For students with a passion for creativity and a desire to make an impact, engineering offers a world of opportunity. Whether through university degrees, PLC courses (QQI FET), apprenticeships, or a blend of these pathways, there is a route into engineering for everyone. Engineering is where passion meets purpose. Join a vibrant community committed to professional growth, collaboration, and delivering sustainable solutions for society.
Learn more at engineersireland.ie.
