iRAIL 2014


to Bombardier and the control centre were “really interesting…we definitely learnt a lot we didn’t know”, while Imogen Rea (13) added: “It was something different. I’ve never really been interested in trains before, but today changed that. It was good to see what everyone did, and to understand all the work that goes into it.”


CREST Discovery


Thanks to funding support from the UK Rail Industry Training Trust, the British Science Association awarded CREST Discovery Award certificates to all of the students taking part on the day.


iRail itself is funded by the industry, and also gets third-party funding. Saunders said: “We’re delighted that the industry is getting more involved. We’re becoming more and more reliant on their generosity, as the third-party funding dries up. We remain eternally grateful


48 | rail technology magazine Apr/May 14


to people like the Transport iNet and the East Midlands Development Agency (emda),


as


was, because without their help in the early years, we wouldn’t be here today with the industry now having more of an opportunity to contribute. There’s certainly an appetite within the industry now to fund this, which is good news.”


YRP contribution


Saunders also thanked the day’s host and organiser Paul Jones of By Design Group, and the Young Railway Professionals (YRP), many of whose members helped out by mentoring on the day.


Among the exhibitors were two graduate engineers from Interfleet, Arthur Mallins and Emma Taylor.


Taylor, who recently completed a Mechanical Engineering degree at Nottingham, did two


summer placements with Interfleet. Discussing iRail, she said: “It’s great that they’re trying to get younger people excited about engineering, about maths and science. At school, it can seem a bit dry to some of the students, but showing them what they could do with it afterwards is really important.”


Mallins, who studied Mechanical Engineering at Sheffield, is originally from London but said Derby is “the place to be” for railway careers.


Vossloh Kiepe was among the companies at iRail for the first time. Customer services manager Andy Slater said: “This is the future. There’s a massive skills shortage in the industry, so we need apprentices at all levels, from engineering apprentices up to the graduate level. This event is encouraging the young engineers of tomorrow.”


Joe Silmon, senior systems engineer at Atkins, was urged to participate in iRail in 2013 by


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