An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

1991-1995: THE FAIRCLOUGH YEARS 97Development (NVQ-level 3) and add this to their personal CPD. In ten regions, managementof the Neighbourhood Engineers’ programme was contracted out under arrangements withSATROs or Education Business Partnerships. All in all, the scheme at this time could fairlybe rated as a huge success, reflecting great credit on its EngC progenitors and all theparticipating engineers and technicians.Young Engineer for BritainThe YEB competition attracted record entries for each successive year during the period1991-1995, no doubt as a result of extensive national TV coverage in most of these years. In1991 a video was produced for Neighbourhood Engineers to use in schools to also promotethe YEB Competition. The video ‘Young Engineers for Britain ‘How they made it’’ hadbecome available on a one month loan basis for the first time in December 1991. It wasreissued in October 1993 under the same loan conditions. The YEB winner for 1991 wasAdam Seedhouse (18) whose invention allowed electric drills to make holes at differentangles.The first girl champion, Caroline Gledhill (18) of Ringwood, Hampshire, emerged as theYEB for 1992 with her invention of a low-cost, high-quality measuring device for high-speedtape recorders. Sir Roderick MacLeod, Chairman and Chief Executive of Lloyd’s Register ofShipping, presented the champion with the YEB trophy, a personal prize of £500 and £1,500for the purchase of engineering equipment for educational use. In 1993 there were nearly1,000 contestants and the number of schools entering doubled to 260. Lucy Porter from Bath,a female winner, again, was chosen as the YEB for her invention of a swing exerciser forchildren unable to use their legs. The Lord Mayor of London, Sir Francis McWilliams FEng,presented the trophy and cash prizes at the Plaisterers’ Hall.Nearly 1,000 youngsters (11-19) entered the regional finals in 1994. It was won by four 17-year-old students from Plymstock School, Plymouth for inventing a “Flexi-valve” flowcontrolsystem for a waste-water works. The competition was sponsored by Lloyd’s Registerand National Westminster Bank while the national finals were held in the City of London.The YEB competition for 1995 had a record 1200 entries and the national finals were held atthe City of London’s Guildhall. The winner was Stephen Mosley (18) of Eckington School,Derbyshire, for his invention of an aerodynamic bicycle wheel. The prizes were presented byRichard Page, Under Secretary of State for Small Business, Industry and Energy. Theprincipal sponsors were Lloyd’s Register and the General Electric Company. For the firsttime the annual YEB competition at regional and national levels was a joint venture betweenthe EngC and the Standing Conference on Schools’ Science and Technology (SCSST) YoungEngineers’ movement. The project was termed “Young Engineers for Britain” thereafter.Many other prizes, some substantial financially, were awarded to young people in a variety ofcategories sponsored by many British companies.Interfacing with Further and Higher EducationFor many individuals who were studying in the areas of further and higher education, therewas some welcome practical news in the Government’s 1991 budget. For some time theEngC, with the Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF), had been campaigning for taxrelief for individuals on the amounts spent on their CPD. Although this had not succeeded theGovernment did announce in 1991 that those who paid for their own training leading to mostNVQs could now claim tax relief on study and examination fees – though not on books or© Engineering Council UK 2004