Success for GC apprentices at the Engineering for People Design Challenge

For a third year in a row, GC/UWE Engineering apprentices have qualified for the grand final. Last year's team won the People's Prize with a design for a sustainable fridge to meet the most crucial needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Cape York, Australia.

This year, the final was held in Glasgow, Scotland. Our apprentices delivered an outstanding pitch to a panel of expert judges, competing alongside 10,000 students and 35 teams from UK & Ireland universities. 

For the task this year, our apprentices designed a recycling chute to reduce fly-tipping and waste to improve environmental issues in Govan, Scotland. They received overwhelmingly positive feedback from Engineering Without Border's expert reviewers, qualifying them for the final stage of the competition.

The design uses the existing structures within older buildings in Govan, to create a low-cost and discreet alternative to recycling without the residents leaving their homes. This creates a positive impact on the environment, local infrastructure, and waste for the council and the local community.

Each year, the Engineering for People Design Challenge encourages university-level learners to broaden their awareness of the social, environmental, and economic implications of their engineering solutions, in response to a real-world problem. The engineering challenges are framed around the UN Sustainable Development Goals and span everything from water and sanitation, energy, and the built environment, to transport, waste management, information communications technology, and local industry.

"I am pleased that our apprentices were selected to go through to the Grand Finals this year. The judges were very impressed by their work." - said Vincent Seow, Lecturer in Engineering at GC. "Their design has demonstrated an effective way of tackling the waste challenges faced by communities in Govan, Scotland. The judges were very impressed by their work. One of the judges mentioned that their design would be a practical solution to the local community in Govan."

The successful team comprised apprentices from 3 employers; William Baldwin and Becky Douglas from Renishaw, Daniel Sutton (project manager), Owen Webb and Jacob Hare from Dowty Propeller, and Alex William and Sam Wainwright from UK Atomic Energy Authority.

“Renishaw is very proud that a team of apprentices has qualified for the Engineers Without Borders final." - said Julia Russel, Apprentice Lead at Renishaw. "The real-world projects and team working aspect of the competition pulls together all of their skills and knowledge delivered by the apprenticeship and work placements and allows them to put them into action.”

GC’s Engineering degree apprenticeships are delivered jointly by Gloucestershire College and the University of the West of England (UWE), to train the talent of tomorrow in partnership with Gloucestershire’s best engineering and manufacturing companies.

To find out more, visit www.gloscol.ac.uk/employers or contact Employer Training & Apprenticeships team at employer.training@gloscol.ac.uk or 01452 563400.

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) UK emerged at the beginning of the millennium, during an era of greater global consciousness, which saw the world commit to the Millennium Development Goals. The mission is to put global responsibility at the heart of engineering to serve the needs of disadvantaged communities and people through engineering projects. For more information visit https://www.ewb-uk.org/

Gloucestershire College is an innovative and career-focused provider of further and higher education, with three campuses in Cheltenham, Gloucester, and the Forest of Dean. The College delivers a range of academic, professional and technical training programmes, including apprenticeships, HNCs, HNDs, foundation degrees and professional qualifications up to the equivalent of master’s degrees, as well as short courses for businesses, part-time courses and English for overseas students. Each year Gloucestershire College welcomes over 5,000 full-time students and 10,000 part-time students and employs over 1,000 members of staff across all sites. Find out more at www.gloscol.ac.uk