TEN students from Warrington’s Priestley College took part in an award project designed to inspire the next generation of engineers.
The inaugural David Butler Award – staged by the Institute of Chartered Engineers – saw entrants work remotely on a problem-solving activity.
Tutor Karen Fullerton said: “It gave our students such a great opportunity to work with civil engineer mentors who offered valuable advice and guidance.
“It was a virtual alternative to work experience and was a great lesson in teamwork and problem solving, both crucial skills for those students wanting to enter the world of engineering.”
The award saw 16-18-year-olds play CityZen, a civil engineering digital game, and submit a video project with a proposal for improvements that civil engineers could make in their local area.
More than 500 students in 90 teams took part and Priestley’s engineers recently received their awards for taking part.
The judges, impressed with the quality of the students’ video entries, said: “It’s clear that a future generation of civil engineers is more than up for the challenge of tackling today’s big issues.”
Among the Priestley students was former Culcheth High pupil Zach Turner-Bowles who also secured the highest mark in his year group in the recent Engineering exams.
He is hoping for a career in engineering and expects to focus on electrical or mechanical.
Zach, who also studies Maths, Business and Computer Science, said he was more happy with securing his personal target in the exams than finishing top of the class.
“The exam tested the understanding of electrical principles in engineering and was made up mostly of calculation-related or written questions,” he said.
