Celebrating Gap Year Student Success
Added: (Mon Sep 05 2005)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
10 of the UK’s most talented gap year students will present their outstanding business solutions to a panel of esteemed judges at The Year in Industry Contribution to the Business Award, being held at the Institute of Electrical Engineers in Savoy Place in London on Wednesday 7th September.
Each of the 10 finalist students has already won a regional final of the Contribution to the Business Award and this national final celebrates the fantastic contribution these young people have made to UK industry in the past 12 months. Following the students’ presentations and judges’ considerations, the winner will be announced and awarded with a cheque for £2000.
The high-profile event, sponsored by Centrica, dstl, EEF The manufacturers’ organisation, and QinetiQ, marks the end of another great year for the scheme. In 2004/05 nearly 600 gap year students and undergraduates successfully completed work placements at over 250 UK companies in spanning industries including engineering, technology, science and business and much more.
“For UK companies to compete in today’s market place, it’s essential that talented young people are attracted to careers in industry. The Year in Industry (YINI) scheme gives high-calibre students a taste of working life increasing their likelihood of returning to that industry upon graduation.” said Roy Bromley, National Director of the scheme “These teenage finalists have saved their companies around £3M in total and their projects are more diverse than ever, ranging from vital improvements in offshore oil rig surveillance, to developing new graduate recruitment strategies. The judges have a very hard task ahead of them.”
The panel of judges chaired by Anne Minto, Group Director of Human Resources, Centrica plc will include Martin Temple, Director General of EEF; Peter Wason, Secretary and Chief Executive, Institution of Incorporated Engineers; Roberta Blackman-Woods, MP for Durham and Frances Saunders, Technical Director at dstl. Guest speaker at event will be Lord Martin O’Neil, former MP for Ochil.
David Chapman, a 19 year old from Burton-upon-Trent will be representing the West Midlands region at the event. He recently completed his gap year work placement at GKN plc, where he has saved the company more than £200,000 p.a. by implementing an innovative new checking system for Land Rover chassis’. An exceptional project for any professional, but even more astonishing given fact that David missed 4 years of secondary school through illness.
“I was thrilled to win the regional award, especially as the calibre of the other entrants was so high,” said David. “My YINI placement has given me valuable experience, knowledge and confidence to further my career at University and beyond, not to mention the opportunity to implement my ideas in a real working environment.”
For more information on the scheme go to www.yini.org.uk