A global search for a female MacGyver has begun as part of an initiative to create a television series that will inspire young people, especially women, to pursue careers in engineering. The U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering (USC Viterbi), in collaboration with the MacGyver Foundation and Lee Zlotoff, the creator of the original MacGyver, have announced the launch of a worldwide crowdsourcing competition called ‘The Next MacGyver’. The original MacGyver series, launched 30 years ago in 1985, followed the adventures of fictional government agent Angus MacGyver, who resourcefully used his engineering skills to solve problems in each episode. “I literally couldn’t tell you how many times people have come up to me and said ‘I became an engineer or I went into the sciences because of MacGyver’,” said Zlotoff. The project is seeking ideas for a television show featuring a female engineer character in a leading role. Five winners will each receive $5,000 (€4,395) and have the rare opportunity to be paired with top Hollywood producers, who will mentor them to develop the character and an engaging pilot script. Ultimately, the finalists will work to develop viable concept packages for pitching to a network or distributor. At a town hall meeting last year, US President Barack Obama remarked on the importance of female engineering role models in popular culture. “When you see an engineer or a tech person on a TV show or movies, something like 90% of them are male. So if you never see you in that position, it’s hard to imagine, ‘Well, that’s something I should be doing’,” he said. The jump in forensic science enrolments following the success of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is proof of the impact cultural cues can have. “What CSI did for science is what engineering can do for humankind," said Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the CSI franchise and a mentor on the new project. "Through ingenuity and innovation, the medium of TV will help galvanise youth to go into the field of engineering.” ‘The Next MacGyver’ competition opens today (February 20) and the deadline for entry is April 17, 2015. Initial idea submissions will be roughly one page of content to include a proposed title and genre, short description of the show, breakdown of lead characters and ideas for episodes beyond the pilot. A panel of judges from engineering, entertainmentand academia will select 12 contestants to further develop their ideas and pitch them to another panel of judges at a live event this summer. Five finalists will be selected at that time, and pilot scripts will be completed by the end of this year.

The competition is open to entrants from any country, their character can be of any age, race or nationality, and the show can be in any genre. There is no mention so far of when or on what platform the programme would be broadcast, but entrants must submit a synopsis of a pilot episode via the website thenextmacgyver.com before 17 April.