BSEE


Katie beats off scores of men to engineer her future career


16-year-old student from Southampton has beaten off ‘hundreds’ of others and bagged a prestigious six-year engineering apprenticeship. Katie Hopper, who attends Salisbury’s University Technical College (UTC), was the only female who applied to Associated British Ports (ABP) for the higher level degree apprenticeship.


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“It was all men at the interviews and they were all about ten years older than me,” said Katie, who is studying a range of STEM subjects, including engineering, electronics and computer science at the UTC.


Principal of the South Wiltshire UTC, Joe Mulligan, said it was unheard of for a 16 year old to be offered a higher level degree apprenticeship. “We are all very proud of what Katie has achieved, she has worked tremendously hard and thoroughly deserves this amazing opportunity.” According to the Women’s Engineering Society the UK has the lowest percentage of female engineers in Europe, at less than 10 per cent. Katie hopes she will be one of many young women bucking this trend.


“I am ecstatic about getting this far, especially for my age, it is a dream,” she said. “I also want to slowly and steadily promote women in engineering.”


Katie has already completed some work experience at ABP, one of the UK’s leading ports operators with a network of 21 ports contributing £7.5 billion to the UK economy, annually


“During my work experience I met the apprentices, saw project management, worked with electrical, mechanical and facility management teams. I got to drive cranes, go on a pilot launch trip and meet people I should be working with,” Katie explained.


During her six year apprenticeship at ABP, Katie will do her HNC, HND and degree. And if she isn’t busy enough, Katie also plays basketball for the Solent Kestrels in the National Premiere League.


Rehau’s Laurence Chownsmith to run London Marathon for scope


national sales manager at Rehau, who is preparing to take on the London Marathon this year. The iconic race takes place in April and so Laurence is already busy training for the run, which he is taking on to raise money for Rehau’s chosen charity, Scope.


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Rehau’s goal is to raise £12,000 for Scope by the end of 2019, and so when a place to run the London Marathon for the charity came up, Laurence jumped at the chance to take part. He is aiming to raise £2,000 towards the overall total for Scope through sponsorship.


Laurence is an experienced runner, having completed around 100 marathons over his 30-year running career, several of these being the London Marathon. His best time at London so far is three hours and 25 minutes, but he hopes to beat this to prove that even at 55, he still has a lot more miles in him.


He said: “It feels great to be able to support a charity as great as Scope. Working together as a team to try and beat our £12,000 target has been an amazing experience for everyone at Rehau.


“I’m really looking forward to taking part in the London Marathon again, this time for Scope. It’s an iconic event with


its huge range of competitors and the way so many people are running for charities. Hopefully I’ll be able to raise lots of money, while also beating my personal best.”


If you’d like to show your support for Laurence and Scope visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ rehauscope


Services SKILLcards has been made easier and quicker following the launch of a new, online service.


The Engineering Services SKILLcard is operated by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) and is held by more than 60,000 people working in the heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration sectors. It provides evidence that they have the required training and qualifications


SKILLcard applications go online A


pplying for Engineering


for the type of work they carry out on construction sites.


Engineering Services was the first of the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) affiliated cards to go ‘smart’ easing the process of updating the holder’s qualifications and making it simpler and quicker for site managers to check skills and prevent potential fraud. “Following a recent survey, 75 per cent of employers and cardholders made it very clear that they wanted to apply for their cards online,” said Rachel


Davidson, director of certification schemes at BESA. “We listened to their needs and have responded. “We were well aware that the manual process could be frustrating and time consuming, so moved quickly to introduce a new online process that new applicants will find simpler, quicker and easier.” The CSCS Partner


schemes, such as SKILLcard, play a crucial role in the government’s 2025 Construction Industry Strategy by helping clients check whether workers


6 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER APRIL 2019


old winter evenings and wet conditions are no barrier for Laurence Chownsmith,


Lesley Birse appointed to the Engineering Construcon Industry Training


NEWS Appointments


Board (ECITB) Birse brings more than 20 years of experience in global HR for the oil and gas sector to the role. Currently, President, People and Organisation for Europe, Africa, ME, Asia and Australia at Wood, Birse covers 23,000 employees and works to harness the full potential of the workforce, in particular through skills training in new technology. “In recent years, the oil and gas industry has been challenged and it has changed in response,” said Birse.


“Lessons have been learned, efficiencies found and the sector is embracing innovations and a forward-thinking mindset to ensure its


J S Wright appoints new senior electrical


enduring position for the next generation of talent.” “I look forward to playing a part in this through my role on the ECITB board and leveraging my experience to add value to the tremendous support and influence the organisation provides.” Birse joins the Board at an important time for the ECITB as the training board develops its new strategy and levy offer, on which it will consult with industry later in the year.


Based at J S Wright's headquarters in


contracts engineer Leading mechanical and electrical building services specialist J S Wright has strengthened its rapidly- growing electrical business after appointing a new senior electrical contracts engineer. Darren Swift will manage the electrical element of M&E building projects, as well as solus electrical projects, across the hotel, residential, social housing, student


accommodation, leisure and commercial sectors.


Lochinvar strengthens presence in Scotland


have the right qualifications for the job in hand and have suitable health and safety training. Speeding up and


streamlining the application process to keep up with the pace of change across the industry was, therefore, regarded as a priority by BESA. The new system has gone live for new


applicants and BESA said it would also be extended to cover renewals over the coming months.


To access the SKILLcard online application service visit: www.skillcard.org.uk


Boiler and water heater manufacturer, Lochinvar, has appointed Craig Jeffrey as area sales representative for Scotland. He will work alongside the company’s long-established sales agent, John McErlean. Jeffrey joins from the energy company, Spark, where he worked for five years in a number of roles including team manager and coaching and


recruitment manager. In the latter position, he was responsible for equipping other team managers with motivational, customer service and performance management skills.


He first joined the industry in 2004 and brings considerable sales


Birmingham, Swift will work with national electrical contracts director, Paul Featherston in supporting all three of the company’s offices in Aston, Bristol and London. With almost 30 years of experience in the electrical services industry, Swift was previously electrical project manager for another Midlands-based building services contractor. His credits include


managing the supply and installation of all the electrical services for new regional distribution centres for supermarket giant Aldi.


experience and a successful track record of working with consultants, contractors and merchants. “Craig is a very important appointment for us as we seek to boost our presence in Scotland,” said Lochinvar sales director, Liam Elmore. “We are seeing growing demand for our water heaters and boilers so it is important that we back that up with strong, locally-based sales and technical support.”


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