Four outstanding young people are celebrating success after winning awards at the Scottish Final of the Year in Industry ‘Contribution to the Business Awards’. The event was held at Strathclyde University on the 7th of July and all of the students based in Scotland displayed their projects at their company stands to guests and judges. Former Year in Industry students were also in attendance as Year in Industry celebrates 25 years of success as the UK's leading student placement experts.
The overall Scottish winner, with a prize of £500, sponsored by Lloyds Register Educational Trust, was Holly MacDonald from Helensburgh; Holly spent her year with ScottishPower Energy Networks at their Operational Control Centre in Kirkintilloch. Her outstanding project was to facilitate the introduction of new technology by creating task specific guides, to be used by field staff when working with new equipment. Holly will now go on to compete in the Year in Industry CTTB UK Final in London on the 12th September.
The Runner up prize of £300, sponsored by imporph, was awarded to Andrew Pring who spent an exciting year with Selex Galileo.
Other prizes awarded at the event were:
- Perth College/CMI YINI student of the Year Trophy won by Holly MacDonald – Scottish Power Energy Networks Kirkintilloch
- £300 ‘Best IT Project Implementation’ sponsored by The Edrington Group won by Basel Razouk – ScottishPower Energy Networks Bellshill
- £300 ‘Business Improvement’ sponsored by SMAS won by Andrew Pring – Selex Galileo Edinburgh
- £300 ‘Best Personal Development’ sponsored by William Grant & Sons won by Stacey Gray – AMEC Natural Resources Aberdeen
Participating students who have been aptly called the “Future Captains of Industry” spent a challenging and demanding year in industry prior to going to university.
Students spent their year working on a real-life, difficult in-house project. They also completed the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) residential course in Business Management at Perth College. This gave them excellent experience and a sound understanding of business today, as well as gaining invaluable industry contact.
The judges from Industry were Calum Wilson - Forth Energy, Stewart Doyle – GlaxoSmithKline, Caroline Hughes – imorph, Richard Allan - Scottish Water Horizons and Bob Dunsmore – Subsea 7.
Caroline Hughes – Operations Director at imorph commented “It is an honour to be asked to deliver a guest speech and to judge at the Contribution to the Business Awards Scottish finals. The projects this year are phenomenal and a real credit to the students. It’s great to see the results students are providing and I’d certainly encourage more companies to take part.
“The YINI scheme is a fantastic initiative and it’s great to see it thriving 25 years on from its inception. YINI gives students the opportunity to gain hands on experience, get a taste of working life as well as providing employers with enthusiastic talented young people who deliver real and tangible results into the business.”
John Kirkwood – Scottish Power Energy Networks mentored Holly during her year with the company, commented “Holly’s approach to the project was innovative and her own interpretation of complex tasks enabled them to be simplified and understood by all levels of the company “.
Duncan McSporran Director EDT Scotland commented ‘The Year in Industry is the flagship culmination of EDT’s series of innovative pathway of programmes and it provides the very best opportunity for motivated young students, hoping to seize the opportunities which will boost their careers in industry. Companies get the chance to work with Scotland’s best, well- motivated, future staff. The Year in Industry aimed at attracting and retaining the best of students in careers in Scottish industry’.
Companies displaying their students projects on the day were Aggreko, AMEC, BAE Systems Surface Ships, EDF Energy, Harley Haddow, Rolls-Royce, Scottish Power, SELEX Galileo, Thales Optronics and Wood Group PSN.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
The Year in Industry, Headstart, EES, Go4SET, First Edition and Industrial Trust form the continuum of science, engineering and technical projects which will be delivered throughout Scotland, by the Engineering Development Trust Scotland (EDT Scotland). EDT Scotland is a registered charity, focused on helping young people achieve their full potential, in particular through careers in science, engineering and technology
For more information about EDT schemes, visit our websites: