The finals of this years competition saw apprentices teams take part in the Apprentice Automation Challenge finals, held at the held at the prestigious Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.
Held annually and now in its eleventh year, this engineering competition has been steadily growing in popularity, with a record 17 apprentice teams joining to demonstrate a wide variety of products and a high level of quality and professionalism in their work.
While judging was close, the judges ultimately crowned the apprentices from team Elevation Nation at Niftylift the 2025 champions, who retain the title for the second year in a row.
“The winning team significantly impressed with their presentation skills,” explain Toby Heagarty, Chief Judge. “The prototype they developed showed iteration over time into their final product and the significant amount of research they had done into the market was a key factor in the judges’ decision.”
The Seven Seeds team from Leonardo earned the coveted Peer Review award, voted for by their fellow teams at the finals, while Thales’ Mech Me Up Before You Go Go secured The Manufacturer’s Most Commended award.
Now in its eleventh year, the Apprentice Automation Challenge tasks apprentice engineers to design and build a prototype device that automates a common product or process and is open to those in both industry and academia.
Participants are encouraged to develop their existing skills and knowledge to as part of the process to take their ideas and make them a reality, alongside writing a full design and business report that mirrors the same requirements found in industry.
The finals event provides teams with the opportunity to present their work for evaluation and scoring by a panel of judges, often engineers in industry. These include both formal presentations of their product documentation, alongside a proper demonstration of their prototype devices.
This included a design specification document, manufacturing process, a user-friendly manual, and a business case for the production, marketing and sale of their proposed product.
With requirements and ruleset that are as close to the real world as possible, the Challenge enables young engineers to gain valuable skills and experience of working as a team on an engineering project that are important as they move into graduate roles in industry.
Overseeing the product demonstrations this year were Deputy Lord Mayor and Mayoress for Coventry Roger and Pauline Bailey, who were delighted to see what the apprentices have been working on over the past months.
"It's been totally fantastic not just seeing the products but talking to people and understanding the enthusiasm and dedication to what they are doing,” said Deputy Lord Mayor Roger Bailey, “Every single thing we've seen so far has a practical use and could go on to not just make money but to help people. It's nice to see a project from design to finish and that's something you don't often get to see.”
"One of the great things [the Challenge] is doing is bringing people together who work together and communicating together and that is important in itself, “ he continued. “The skills they've gained by working as a team and learning new things they've never done before opens up a whole range of possibilities, and I hope that the companies that some of these people work for see the future of these products and put them to market, as every single one has a market!"
"Engineering is part of our future, it's the foundation of our evolution and the way we move forward and without it, we're not going anywhere. What people are doing today and the skills they are gaining today are important for all our futures."
This year’s winning team will go home from Coventry finals with a prize of £2,000 for their work and will go on to exhibit their work at next year's Smart Manufacturing and Engineering Week, organised by The Manufacturer.
The full list of teams taking part in the final are as follows:
- PourTech Pro, Leonardo UK
- Seven Seeds, Leonardo UK
- Elevation Nation, Niftylift
- SWIFT, Leonardo UK
- The Green Machine Makers, Leonardo UK
- Horizon Dynamics, Leonardo UK
- Heimdoor (Luton Team 4), Leonardo UK
- PushPal, Leonardo UK
- Six Dwarves, Leonardo UK
- Team Automation 1, Ricoh UK Products Ltd
- Team Automation 2, Ricoh UK Products Ltd
- Starstruck, Thales
- ITP Aero Year 3 Engineers, ITP Aero UK
- Weapon Systems UK, BAE Systems
- Straight To The Point, Thales
- Mech Me Up Before You Go Go, Thales
- The Pill Pioneers, Leonardo UK
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Manufacturing Industries Division’s Young Members Committee would like to thank The Manufacturer for their continued support of the Apprentice Automation Challenge.
Finally, the Institution would like to thank all apprentice teams and their companies for taking part in this year’s Apprentice Automation Challenge. We hope that you enjoyed the chance to develop your products and the skills and experiences will help you as you continue your careers as young engineers.
The Apprentice Automation Challenge will open for new registrations for the 2026 competition towards the end of this year, please bookmark the Challenge website, mark your calendars and we look forward to welcoming new and returning teams for the next year of the Challenge.