IET: Young engineers treated to VIP tour of National Grid

Six budding young engineers have been treated to a VIP tour of National Grid as part of their prize for winning a competition to find out how technology has shaped our lives.

The students won the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) sponsored Leaders Award for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). As well as a tour of National Grid, the students spent a day with Steve Holliday, the Chief Executive of National Grid, on Friday 6 September.

The Leaders Award for STEM is a Primary Engineer programme open to students from 5 to 19 years old. It aims to increase their awareness of the breadth of opportunities open to them within STEM subjects. It helps to develop students’ vital literacy and communication skills, and give them the chance to speak directly to professionals from different fields in STEM.

The winning students were Annabel McKay aged 14 from Swindon, Luke Bentley aged 15, Toby Mascall aged 15 both from Romford, Bailey White-Lessells aged 14 from Bolton, Rebecca Sinclair aged 16 from New Haw, Surrey and Ben Watts-Jones aged 18 from Swindon.

The IET-sponsored award required students to discover how STEM professionals believe “Technology Today” has influenced developments within energy supply, food, fashion, transport and so forth.

Claire Molinario, IET Education Manager, said: “This competition was all about inspiring and attracting tomorrow’s engineers.  Engineering and technology is often an invisible industry amongst young people.  They sometimes have preconceived negative ideas about what engineers look like, the jobs they do and what they can earn.

“Through this competition we have aimed to encourage more young people to study the STEM subjects and consider engineering and technology as possible career paths.”

Jonathan Richardson, National Grid Education Officer, said: “The students have shown real initiative in learning more about STEM subjects and, thanks to their hard work, they have discovered a whole new range of exciting career opportunities available to them in the field of engineering.”

Students entering the competition were asked to interview professional engineers or technicians to find out how technology has influenced today’s world in areas such as fashion, food, transport, buildings and energy supply.

Ends
For more information, visit: http://www.leadersaward.com/
Interview opportunities are available with IET spokespersons.
The IET is leading the development of an international engineering and technology community, sharing and advancing knowledge to enhance people’s lives. The IET is the Professional Home for Life® for engineers and technicians, and a trusted source of Essential Engineering Intelligence®.
For more information, visit www.theiet.org
Follow the IET on Twitter.

Media enquiries to:
Robert Beahan, External Communications Manager
T: +44 (0)1438 767336
M: +44 (0)7595 400912
E: rbeahan@theiet.org