Last month, 415 students were awarded an Arkwright Scholarship, recognising their accomplishments in engineering study and providing funds to boost their further education.

EW reporter Alex McCarthy attended the awards ceremony, held at the IET in London, and spoke with some of the recipients to find out their visions for the future of engineering.

Now in its 28th year, the Arkwright Scholarship programme is run by The Smallpeice Trust, a charity devoted to helping young people pursue education and careers in engineering.

Eligible students, aged 16-17, are nominated by a teacher and need to complete an application to be considered. To determine who is eventually awarded scholarships, the students participate in a challenging, two-hour aptitude exam and a rigorous interview.

The Friday 1 November awards ceremony saw some 70 students receive their scholarships and featured speeches from Nigel Fine, the chief executive and secretary of the IET, and Alan Begg, the chairman of trustees at the Smallpeice Trust.

Poonam Parmar, a 2nd year IT graduate currently working a graduate scheme at Arm, gave a guest speech on the importance of STEM across society and the company’s commitment to promoting scientific disciplines.

Students interviewed at the event told EW that even when studying STEM, young people are most often encouraged to take up careers in medicine or lab science as opposed to engineering.

They suggested however that this, along with the well-documented gender imbalance in the field, is being addressed at school level, with institutions advocating engineering to both boys and girls.

Despite this, there is still clearly a way to go, with two girls telling EW they were the sole female members of their engineering classes. This year, 30% of the Arkwright scholars were girls, but the programme is aiming for full gender parity.

Students said they enjoy engineering because its about “fixing things, making them more efficient,” and because it made them “feel like part of the team.”

In total, the Arkwright scholars will receive a £600 personal financial award and a £400 school financial award, along with support from their sponsor, industry-based engineering experience days and other resources and information provided by the Arkwright organisation.

Entries have now closed for the 2020 scholarship, and entrants will begin taking the exam in February of next year. Good luck to all applicants!