Engineering some bright futures at first city challenge - The Worcester Observer

Engineering some bright futures at first city challenge

Worcester Editorial 20th Mar, 2018   0

CREATIVE minds from schools across the city showcased their talents in Worcester’s first engineering challenge in a bid to encourage more young people to consider a career in the profession.

The finals at the Hive on Friday saw a pair of students from 14 local schools competing to design and build a pedestrian bridge crossing the River Severn by Gheluvelt Park, a project which is being given serious consideration by the City Council.

First place was awarded to Alex Cwenarkiewicz and William Hinton from Carnforth Primary School while Roberto Cornejo and Gehan Hussain who are in year four at Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary School finished second.

Judges included Steve Munn, head of project management at Worcester Bosch and Worcester City Council managing director David Blake, himself an engineer. They assessed the operation, function, mechanism and design of each team’s bridge, as well as their ability to solve problems and communicate well together.




For years employers have warned of an acute shortage of skilled engineers at all levels in the UK – it is estimated the country needs 1.8 million new engineers and technicians by 2025.

Mounting evidence suggests children need to be enthused and informed about the profession at a much earlier age.


“We are a local manufacturing company and we want to recruit more people at every level within the organisation – not only those with high level engineering degrees but also employees with a good all round technical understanding,” said Mr Munn.

“We’re working with a number of local schools to encourage more young people to consider a career in engineering.”

The council joined forces with STEMworks, a local organisation specialising in education outreach work, to bring the challenge to local classrooms.

STEMworks Ambassador Sarah Lalor said: “Many children don’t know what engineering really involves – they often think it’s similar to being a mechanic and involves getting dirty.

“We want children to realise there’s more to engineering than they thought. It requires skills in maths, creativity, design, communication, imagination and science.”

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