Last month, a group of school-age students from South Ayrshire, all members of the Scottish Council Development & Industry’s Young Engineers and Science Clubs Network, were in the north-east to visit a variety of high profile businesses and initiatives as a reward for their prowess.
The Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s LRF Engineering Explorer Reward Experience delegation represented Belmont Academy, which is the SCDI’s Club of the Year for 2013.
The Belmont Academy team had great success at the Big Bang Science fair at the SECC in June. Not only did they take home the Lloyd’s Register Foundation School Science and Engineering club of the year award, their club received a magnificent trophy, £750 AND the Engineering Reward Experience all generously underpinned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF).
Their first call on the Experience tour was to the Balmoral Group where they met founder/chairman James Milne and toured the plant to gain first hand, an idea of how sophisticated deepwater buoyancy systems for the oil and gas industry are researched, developed, designed and manufactured.
Other visits on their three-day schedule included BP, The Robert Gordon University’s Faculty of Health & Social Care, Arjowiggins, Mackie’s of Scotland, Lloyd’s Register EMEA, and NorthLink Ferries.
The students were Ross Campbell, 14, Matthew Cooper, 15, Calvin Finlayson, 15, Erin Faddes, 14, and Katie Hitchen, 14.
It was clear that the students got a lot out of the visits.
They chorused: “The LRF Engineering Experience really opened our eyes to how many different careers there are in engineering.
“It was fascinating to see engineering in action in so many different industries and really interesting to see behind-the-scenes.
“We talked to loads of engineers during the visits, and even met two who had gone to Belmont Academy!
“It was a privilege to meet with Mr Milne of Balmoral Group – he was really inspiring and gave us some great tips about how to get on in life.”
Accompanying adults who therefore also got a taste of successful enterprise in the north-east included: Michelle Andrews, physics teacher; Janice Keenan, technician; Jane Martin – programme director for YECS; Melanie Riddell – programme manager for YECS; and Eileen Kinghan, grants manager, Lloyd’s Register Foundation.
The Experience is funded by Young Engineers and Science Clubs’ Lead Partner, Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF)
LRF is a UK registered charity and sole shareholder of Lloyd’s Register Group Ltd, which invests in science, engineering and technology for public benefit, worldwide.
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