Regional engineering awards take place in Rochdale

Posted by on 21 Jul 2022

School children aged 3-19 from across Greater Manchester and Yorkshire attended a prestigious awards ceremony in Rochdale to receive trophies and certificates as winners of the ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do’ Leaders Award competition.

The national science, technology, engineering and math’s (STEM) competition is run by Primary Engineer, a not-for-profit organisation who brings engineering into the classroom, and encourages children to identify problems in the world around them and come up with innovative solutions for them.

The awards were presented by the Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Ali Ahmed, his consort Councillor Sultan Ali, Paul Simkiss – business owner and member of the RDAs board, and Dr Ciara McGrath from University of Manchester.

The quality and standard of the awards from the students, many of whom are still at primary school, was incredible. Some of the winning ideas included: a sun cream spray booth, robot toy sorter, an allergen watch, self-charging phone, magnetic wallpaper, blackout solar energy windows and a heated couch.

Alongside the winners, two Judges Special Awards were handed out with one going to Sarwin, a Year 3 from Warmsworth Primary School, for his “I can’t put my seatbelt on” design. The other judges award went to Mason, a Reception aged pupil from Woodfield Primary School, for his Magical Magnetic Zip idea. The panel was taken by the originality and simplicity his solution.

Councillor Rachel Massey, cabinet member for children’s services and education, said: “The creativity on show from the talented young people at this event was wonderful to see. We’re clear that the future of engineering starts in the classroom and we’re passionate about embedding that in all our schools. We’ve had Cardinal Langley win education awards for their amazing work in STEM so we’ve a great foundation to build upon across the borough. I hope the ideas presented here by the young people go on to inspire their peers to be interested in a career in engineering. We have some great plans but to go with that we need young people to be inspired into engineering and the possibilities it can open up for them.”

The competition is an important step in helping to raise the profile of engineering among young people and within Rochdale, where the new Advanced Machinery & Productivity Institute (AMPI) will have its headquarters. The institute will focus on developing world leading machinery, advanced materials and automation, vital to the future productivity and prosperity of the manufacturing sector in the UK.

Councillor John Blundell, cabinet member for Economy and Communications at Rochdale Borough Council and RDA board member said: “We are delighted to welcome the final of Primary Engineer to Rochdale. The development of AMPI in Rochdale will offer so many opportunities to the young people both in the area and beyond. It is vital that we encourage and develop innovation in young people and early career engineers, as this is where we believe, our futures begin.”

Rowan Maclean, from Primary Engineer, presented the award ceremony and she commented: “This year’s competition saw over 32,000 pupils take part across the UK. It has been wonderful to recognise the amazing winners from Yorkshire and Greater Manchester, as well as exhibit many of the other engineering ideas at the Rochdale Central Library. What this competition has shown us more than anything else is that the future of engineering is in good hands.”

PHOTO OF ALL THE WINNERS: L-R back row: Paul Simkiss Board Member, Rochdale Development Agency, Councillor Rachel Massey, Derry Falkner – Fives Landis, Mayor of Rochdale - Councillor Ali Ahmed, Rowan Maclean – Primary Engineer, Dr Ciara McGrath – University of Manchester, Ann Adamson – Woodfield Primary School, Mark Johnson – Network Rail

You can find out how the competition helps inspire the next generation of engineers in this podcast: Episode 10: Primary Engineer MacRobert Medal interviews with winners - (leadersaward.com)