Lydia is engineering her way to the top
IF YOU want to be in demand, get into engineering. Barry Brooks, president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), says: ‘Britain faces a dire shortage of engineers.
‘We will need more than 100,000 science and engineering professionals every year by 2020, particularly in areas such as cyber security, low-carbon energy, manufacturing and transport.’
Lydia Feasey, 22, is a mechanical engineering advanced apprentice at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Abingdon, Oxfordshire ( ccfe.ac.uk). She says: ‘I loved my product design A-level — finding a problem to solve, research, coming up with solutions, developing ideas and manufacturing a product.’
For the first six months of her apprenticeship she learned basic mechanical and electrical skills at college. She has since completed placements i n the company including in the design office, a mechanical workshop and with an installation team fitting parts to a nuclear reactor.
Lydia, who was the IET Young Apprentice Of The Year, wants to finish her apprenticeship and progress to an honours degree in mechanical engineering.
‘I enjoy i nstallation and maintenance as well as research and development, so although I’d one day like to become a manager, I’d like hands-on work as part of a team, too,’ she says. Other companies offering engineering apprenticeships include engineering, IT and facilities services business NG Bailey, which is recruiting 25 engineering apprentices to start in September ( ngbailey.com).
Competition is tough with 150 applicants for each place.
Mike Darlington, managing director of the engineering division, who started as an NG Bailey apprentice, says: ‘I instinctively knew that if I did a good job I would get on. That’s a common trait of all our apprentices.
‘We look for hard-workers with a f resh- thinking, customerfocused approach, plus leadership skills, determination and a desire to succeed.’