Local MP launches schools manufacturing competition
Alun Cairns MP joins UK manufacturers to encourage kids to get excited about manufacturing careers.
Alun Cairns MP is proud to be launching the We Made It! competition here in the Vale of Glamorgan, working with local schools and industry to help young people understand how exciting and rewarding a career in manufacturing could be.
The competition will invite young people aged 13-16 to submit designs and ideas for a gadget, gizmo, toy or tool they’d like to see made. Any invention, no matter how creative, is welcome and as long as it’s realistic enough to be made there’s a chance it could be!
The entries will be judged by Mr Cairns and the winner will be entered into a nation-wide competition judged by a group of organisations involved in manufacturing, including Boeing, The Manufacturing Institute, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Finmeccanica, Renewable UK, the Confederation of Paper Industries and Lloyds Banking Group. The organisations are all partners in the Dods Manufacturing Dialogue, which is working to increase interest in manufacturing skills in schools.
The best entries nationwide will be invited to a Fab Lab, the outstanding facilities provided by MIT and the Manufacturing Institute, where their designs will be manufactured and brought to life.
Later this autumn, Mr Cairns will bring the winner of the Vale competition to a reception and awards ceremony in parliament and they’ll have the opportunity to meet the heads of the manufacturing organisations involved in the project and learn how to take their career in manufacturing further.
Mr Cairns said:
“I’m very proud to be supporting this great project to help young people turn their ideas into reality. The UK desperately needs more young people aspiring to high-level manufacturing jobs and gain a better understanding of how the industry and businesses involved in it actually works.
“From the schools I’ve visited and the young people I’ve met right across the Vale, I’m sure that we have the young talent to succeed in this UK competition. I’d urge all young budding manufacturers to enter this competition via their school – it’s a great opportunity.”
To find out more and to enter the competition, pupils can visit the competition’s website, www.wemadeituk.co.uk
Tags: We Made It!