Institution news
Mark’s two-day visit was organised and guided by Jen Corbett, West Cumbria Young Member Chair.
On day one, the delegation visited the nuclear graduate programme provider Energus, hosted by Nigel Couzens, its Executive Director; Gary Jones, the Principal and Chief Executive of Energy Coast UTC; and Mike Smith, the CEO of Gen2, which delivers all the apprenticeship and technical training at the facility.
Following a brief introduction to the training college, Mark and his accompanying group were guided around the facility by four Gen2 apprentices: Aidan Coulthard, Bethany Simpson, Danny Dougherty and Lydia Rowell. Mark asked the apprentices about the projects they have been working on and the challenges they had overcome along the way. It was confirmed that all the students that he met had secured employment for when they complete their apprenticeships and that the college has 16% female students studying STEM, well above the national average. The visit ended with a presentation to Energus for the accreditation of its Monitored Professional Development Scheme (MPDS).
Mark commented: “I was particularly impressed with the high level of technical training and professional development I saw in action during my visits. I was also delighted by the work undertaken by this sector to attract female engineers and technicians, employing nearly double the national average. This is exactly the kind of effort in attracting a more diverse and inclusive engineering workforce that I would like to see duplicated across the country in other sectors.”
The tour continued with a visit to Manchester University's Dalton Cumbria facility, hosted by Kevin Warren, Commercial Director, where the group toured the state-of-the-art facility used by PhD students and industry specialists for research in radiation science and nuclear engineering.
During the evening, Mark attended the 10th Annual West Cumbria Area Annual Dinner, organised by David McArthur, West Cumbria Area Chair. The drinks reception gave the President a great opportunity to talk to some of the 150 guests from local companies. Mark, David McArthur and Jen Corbett each delivered short presentations about the Institution’s activities in the region, and its future plans and direction. The four-course dinner was served by catering students from Lakes College, providing the students with a great opportunity to put their training to the test, with excellent results.
Tessa Sanderson CBE, Commonwealth and Olympic gold medal winner, rounded of the evening with an inspirational talk about her career, providing fascinating insights into how she coped with competition and rivals.
On day two of the visit, the group visited the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), Central Lab, hosted by Dr Dominic Rhodes MBE, NNL Research Fellow and Jen Corbett, Plant Inspection Team.
Paul Howarth, Managing Director, provided an overview of the company, before the group embarked on a tour of the Central Lab, led by Simon Walker, NNL Phase 2/3 Stakeholder Manager. The two new active labs, which will be used for research and development, are now in the commissioning phase. The visit concluded, after lunch, with a short tour of the Sellafield site.