Institution news
The Apprentice Automation Challenge Organising Committee is pleased to invite engineers to become guest judges at this year’s Apprentice Automation Challenge, with the finals event taking place on 25 September 2025 at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.
With the number of apprentice teams growing year on year, the Organising Committee is keen to expand the size and expertise of its judging panel.
This is your chance to become an active volunteer at this established engineering challenge and to apply your knowledge, expertise, and fresh perspectives in order to provide constructive feedback to teams of talented apprentice engineers from across the UK: see the full list of teams taking part.
Judges will be paired with experienced members of the committee and given clear guidance on how to assess submitted work, plus the IMechE will provide lunch, refreshments and networking drinks for you to enjoy across the day.
To put yourself forward, simply complete the application form before 27 June 2025 and we will be in touch afterward with further details. If you have further questions please email aac.challenge@imeche.org.
We are looking for volunteers in the following areas:
Judges for report marking
Based remotely, you will be part of a group of judges tasked with reading and marking design, business and cost report submissions from several teams and assisting the lead judges with feedback to provide final scoring of their work. This is expected to take a few hours and can be done in several sessions ahead of the scoring deadlines.
Judges for Challenge finals
You will be a part of a group of judges at the live finals event, taking place on 25 September 2025 at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry. You will take part in the presentation events led by apprentice teams, assessing their responses, asking questions about their work and assisting lead judges with feedback to provide scoring.
Enjoy a day out of the office at a busy engineering event and get the opportunity to meet and network with entrants, their companies and the committee of senior engineers working across multiple industries.
About the challenge:
The Apprentice Automation Challenge provides a brilliant opportunity for talented apprentices to compete in an innovative design and manufacturing challenge to automate an everyday device.
Organised by the Institution's Manufacturing Industries Division’s Young Members Committee, it engages with teams of apprentice engineers to design, develop and build a fully working system that solves a real-world problem.
Teams submit a report covering the design specification, manufacturing instructions, user manual and a business case for the mass production and sale of the product.