The UK’s Construction Equipment Association (CEA) and the educational organisation Primary Engineer have partnered up again to promote engineering in schools. Their aim is to inspire children to take up careers in engineering and to address the widening skills gap. The areas included in the scheme are Leicestershire and Coventry and it applies to primary and secondary schools.

The schools involved will be working on engineering, maths, science, and technology vehicle and fluid power engineering projects. The collaboration between the two started last year and children worked on their projects throughout the year with the help of the Primary Engineer teams. The judging took place during the Plantworx exhibition in June and it was sponsored by companies such as AMI, BSP Foundations, Datatag, Nylacast, and TriMark.

The programme received a positive feedback and Chris Morris, JCB apprentice programme advisor, who attended the 2017 celebration event at Plantworx, said: As we know, the UK is heavily short of engineers and Primary Engineer is doing a fantastic job in helping to promote engineering through school engagement, by setting tasks and importantly, making it enjoyable. It was an excellent achievement by all. Keep up the good work!

Primary Engineer has been working since 2005 with teachers so that they can address the fundamental issue of a lack of engineers. It is a not for profit organisation which received funding from the then Department of Trade and Industry in the UK. During its existence, it has grown a lot and it delivered teacher training to more than 1,000 teachers a year and has promoted its programme in the classroom to more than 33,000 new students.

Those who wish to sponsor the 2018 CEA and Primary Engineer project can do some now by contacting Louise Murphy at +44 7730 617258 or by emailing louiseamurphy@aol.com. The cost to support teacher training and materials is £750.

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