The Awards were presented on September 3rd by BBC Breakfast journalist and industry supporter, Declan Curry.
The Year in Industry is a national programme designed to provide opportunities for high calibre pre-university students to experience real project work in industry. The EEF has supported the programme for several years, through these annual Awards, which recognise the very highest achievements of the students.
Working with Network Mapping, a National Grid Transco Company, Owen spent his year investigating alternative methods for referencing digital photography captured by helicopters during aerial survey work.
During his placement, Owen devised an automatic technique that will halve the cost of the company’s current mapping procedure and reduce processing time by a third. He was awarded £2000 and is now looking forward to starting an Engineering degree at Trinity College, Dublin.
Communications Prize
The Prize for Communications Skills, sponsored by SEMTA was won by Annabelle Maddison. Annabelle, who worked at Metronet Rail BVC Ltd, won £500 after she created a system to maximise efficiency in the production, procurement and supply of a vital new train component following the derailment at Chancery lane in January 2003. Annabelle was the winner of the South Region final and is now going to study Mechanical Engineering at Nottingham University.
Innovation and invention
The Prize for Innovation, sponsored by EIS, was shared by Matthew Butterworth, winner of the North West Region final and Richard Clayton, winner of the West Midlands Region final. They will both receive £500.
Matthew spent his year in industry at Interbrew UK Ltd where he designed, manufactured and installed a new system on the production line to detect faulty packaging on cases of beer. Matthew will be studying Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College.
Richard worked at B Mason & Sons Ltd; here he was given the task of designing and implementing a new system for the packing line. His completed system will reduce costs by £125,000 per annum. Richard is heading to Birmingham University to study Computer Systems Engineering.
Taking care of the Environment
The Prize for Environmental Impact is sponsored by QinetiQ. East Midlands Regional winner Helen Cavill won £500 after she produced a comprehensive portfolio for George Fischer (Lincoln) Ltd’s Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Permit Application. Failure to deliver the necessary data could have resulted in closure of the site.
There were 8 other finalists for The Year in Industry:
- Tom Cashman (Thames Valley) at Unitek Displays
- Richard Hilton (Northern) at Metal Spinners Group Ltd
- Philip Jales (West of England) at Dstl, (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory)
- Nathalie Pincher (East of England) at Bayer Cropscience
- Lucy Nickson (North Wales) at BNFL Magnox
- Karen Vigers (Devon and Cornwall) at KPM (Kawasaki Precision Machinery
- Ben Isaacs (South Wales) at the Sea Harrier Aircraft Facility at DARA (Defence Aviation Repair Agency
Anil Kamath (Scotland) at British Energy
Founded by The Royal Academy of Engineering in 1986, The Year in Industry is part of the BEST programme, an initiative in engineering education. Since it was founded, the scheme has placed over 7000 students to date and currently over 250 companies are taking part nationwide. The Year in Industry is a national organisation, which places bright, motivated, gap year students and undergraduates in 12-month industrial work placements. If you would like to know more about the programme, or would consider offering a placement to a student, please visit www.yini.org.uk. Your regional EEF Association can also provide details.