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ERA
The Electrical Research Association runs the Born to Engineer campaign to inspire new engineers
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Addressing the skills gap
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ONE
Video created showcasing Lewis Wilde
Engineering UK report that the lack of engineering skills could be costing the UK economy up to £27 billion per annum and, for level 3 skills, the UK is generating less than half the people it needs. To help address this skills gap, the ERA Foundation, in partnership with other organisations and sponsors, runs the Born to Engineer campaign to:
- improve perceptions and inspire more young people into engineering careers
- encourage the most able students to consider engineering
- improve the diversity of engineers.
Professionally produced videos, hosted on the Born to Engineer website at www.borntoengineer.com/video, feature young role-model engineers talking about their studies and careers.
In 2015/16 the Foundation agreed to fund the production of one video in this series.
Fast Boat Builder. Lewis is Born to Engineer.
The videos are widely used by organisations, teachers, career advisers and societies in teaching and outreach, promoted by partners, and in social and traditional media. Online partners using the material because of its quality and alignment with their own objectives include UCAS, IMechE, The Case study Manufacturer, the IET, and Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, while the videos are shown and shared by, for example, Arkwright Scholarships Trust, Royal Institution, Smallpeice Trust, Imagineering, Young Engineers, and the Women’s Engineering Society.
We ensured our grant funding to the ERA Foundation related to our objective of widening access. The video we funded features Lewis Wilde, a marine apprentice at Island RIBs, talking about his route into his apprenticeship. Lewis’s testimony demonstrates the value of our grant to The Shipwrights Company Charitable Fund for a nationwide apprenticeship programme. It helped Island RIBs to offer Lewis an apprenticeship and he found the right career path for him. We hope the video will broaden knowledge of the diversity of engineering opportunities available to young people, informing their decisions, and encourage more to consider an apprenticeship.
Our funding here recognises that a range of organisations working together can potentially make a real difference.
To find out more, visit www.borntoengineer.com