Over 100 students from schools across the North East showcased their engineering talents to industry experts during the Young Engineers for Britain Regional Final this week.

With a flood defence for housing, Andrew Dunn from Yarm school earned the title North East Young Engineer for Britain. Andrew will represent the region at the National Young Engineers for Britain final in London.

Organiser Geoff Clack from the EEF said: “Many of the projects demonstrated the ability these your engineers have to recognise the essential role of engineering. “Andrew’s flood defence for housing is a commercial product that provides a solution to a current problem, his ability to recognise a problem and engineer a solution is an essential skill in any engineering company.”

The event celebrates the best engineering work carried out in schools and colleges, strengthens the link between education and industry and encourages engineering project work in schools as pupils develop and engineer a commercial project.

Tony Sarginson, Regional Manager at EEF said “It’s fantastic to see so many young people being so enthusiastic about engineering. You can’t underestimate the impact this experience will have on their development.”

Source: bdaily.info

Due to previous governments making it known that they believe groups in this industry to be disparate when it comes to discussing ideas, an alliance called Engineering the Future has been created. This union represents almost half a million engineers including the IET and other organisations, making it a dominant voice when influencing decision making. This has ensured that the government need only consult one group for independent know-how and guidance on engineering.

All in all, the group has five key policy concerns for the new government’s focus:

• Firstly, the government must maintain and support the investment given to skills for future benefit. For instance, this may be providing incentives for students to learn more about science and engineering.
• It is important that the government assists the UK in being a leader in low-carbon technology, both as a supplier and a user.
• The group advises that the government should plan to capitalise on the use of the valuable science and research base which exists within the UK. It is essential that those in the field of engineering and technology can share their knowledge to bring new products to the market and help to ensure a sustainable environment for the country.
• Money should be set aside to invest in UK based innovation of products and services.
• Finally, and most importantly of all, the government must allow engineering advice to take a more central role in the formation of new policies. Most areas of public policy have an engineering dimension which ought to be considered from the outset, before any commissioning has been granted. The government can only increase in strength by accepting engineering advice. For instance, the UK energy policy is very important as decarbonisation targets must be achieved by 2050. Advice from impartial experts in the field of engineering will be greatly beneficial to this cause.

Over the coming months, the IET will be present in a series of briefings taking place in Westminster, as engineers inform MPs and researchers of the benefits of consulting experts. With a significant number of new MPs entering parliament it is important that solid relationships are formed, as well as continuing to develop those which already exist. The hard work must now begin to ensure that the government is fully engaged with the engineering community. Engineering for the Future’s proposals should see this goal achieved.