Careers and education
The initiative is an inspirational yet challenging event. When Martin Halligan first took part he described it as a baptism of fire.
“The other experiences I’ve had on training schemes have all been very coordinated and bland, because someone in HR has had to pull it together, whereas with the Railway Challenge and projects like that you are put in a position to control the project and what you get out of it.
“You go into the Challenge as young engineers and everything is new, whether you are a student or learning the ropes in a job either as an apprentice or a new graduate. That is normally done through established business practices, but with the Railway Challenge you actually have to take ownership of absolutely everything – project planning, cost control, the business case, building it and running it.
“That is very hands-on, so when you have that end product you have learnt a lot about what it takes to be a professional engineer,” he added.
Now, Martin is still involved with the Railway Challenge, sitting on the steering group to help develop the Challenge further for the benefit of future generations.
He sees this as rewarding and important work. He encourages all young engineers to consider taking part in the Challenge to improve their knowledge of engineering and help put them on the right tracks for a prosperous career.
“With learning, unless you try and do it yourself you are never going to do it in the most efficient of ways, but the Railway Challenge gives you that practical experience,” he says. “Actually having to create something yourself, design it, build it, make it and test it yourself, means you learn everything at a rate of knots and get a sense of pride and ownership about it.
“You pick up lots of different aspects and learn skills that you may otherwise not learn in your career.”
This year’s Challenge is currently underway; for the latest spectator and team information visit our Railway Challenge pages.