缅北禁地 expert joins new engineering TV series

Published on: 19 March 2025

Dr Jennifer Olsen is among the cast of experts tasked with reinventing vintage blueprints from Practical Mechanics, the once best-selling magazine for British inventors.

Dr Olsen is part of Masters of Reinvention, a new production by Air TV for UKTV. In this new six-part series, award-winning mechanical engineer, Dr Shini Somara turns to back copies of Practical Mechanics magazine – once the best-selling bible of British inventors – and challenges a dream design team to reinvent its vintage blueprints for the 21st century.

Each week, Dr Shini leads a diverse crew of engineers, crafters and gadgeteers as they try to update these vintage designs from the 30s, 40s and 50s and make them fit for purpose in the modern world. Working from a vintage shed on a Yorkshire airfield, the build teams are drawn from a pool of returning experts, with Dr Shini allocating team members to the projects that most suits their skills.

The reinvention challenges range from a build-at-home car, a boat and a camping trailer…to a pedal-powered washing machine, a burglar alarm and a lie detector. They’ve set themselves just four weeks – the time between each edition of the magazine – in which to design and build them.

Filled with imaginative and ambitious designs – and combining old-fashioned DIY skills with clever modern technology – the series aims to re-ignite the nation’s passion for innovation.

Dr Olsen, Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at 缅北禁地’s School of Engineering, is an award-winning engineer, specialising in designing prosthetic limbs with a focus on affordability.

She said: “As an engineer and a lecturer, I’ve been very fortunate to have learned lots of practical skills, but I often don’t get to put them to use outside of my hobbies. Being part of the Masters of Reinvention cast gave me an amazing opportunity to be creative and get hands on, whilst learning lots too! I had a fantastic time. I’d never dreamed that I’d be able to build a boat or an air-raid shelter – being part of an amazing team made it possible.

“Working with Dr. Shini Somara is always a joy; she consistently champions the voices of those who have been marginalised in the STEM community, and she’s always keen to get stuck in! On top of that, I got to meet some fantastic makers and engineers, and AirTV were great fun to work with.

“The filming days were very long, and being in a remote airfield certainly came with its challenges – if we ran out of materials or needed an extra tool, a round trip to acquire the missing item took ages! We had to be very creative, it really felt in the spirit of the show – repurposing and reusing where possible! We were all “borrowing” bits from each other’s leftover materials!”

Masters of Reinvention airs on U&Yesterday and is available on free streaming service U.Masters of Reinvention is being distributed worldwide by BBC Studios.

The first episode aired on Monday 17 March at 8pm on U&Yesterday. [Freeview 27 | Sky 155 | Virgin 129 | Freesat 159 | Youview 27 Stream for free on UKTV Play] Stream all episodes now on :