This is the Year of Engineering in the UK, with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) kicking off the 12-month focus on this sector by announcing support for a range of new engineering projects.
Making 2018 the Year of Engineering is a government initiative in the UK designed to not only celebrate the sector, but also to introduce more young people to the discipline and encourage them to consider engineering careers.
The EPSRC has announced £6.6 million in funding for projects submitted through the Engineering for a Prosperous Nation scheme, which looked for projects with “potentially transformative impact” across a variety of fields.
It has now awarded funds to 28 projects from universities around the UK, providing support to researchers at various stages of their education and in a host of engineering disciplines.
Professor Philip Nelson, EPSRC’s chief executive, said that the work engineers carry out “creates a better future for us all”.
He added: “The projects announced today [15 January] are testament to our firm belief that novel, transformative research will help make the UK a more prosperous nation.”
Autosport recently noted that more needs to be done to encourage more young people into engineering, because of a growing skills gap and a lack of qualified engineers to take the place of those who are retiring.
It pointed out that motorsport is just one of the sectors in the country that could be negatively affected by a lack of trained engineers, with the CEO of the Motorsport Industry Association Chris Aylett commenting: “Engineering in the supply chain of motorsport is critical, be it aerodynamics, IT, data capture or simulation.”
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