Showpiece event urges students to make a career out of engineering

Scarborough Engineering Week 2011 showed that there was more to engineering work than “rags and spanners”. Alan Pickering of engineering firm, Unison, one of the event organisers, said: “Scarborough is proud of its reputation for precision engineering, and this area offers plenty of opportunities for apprentices and graduates.

“Scarborough companies are proving that it is perfectly possible for a mature economy like the UK to lead the world in industrial design and manufacturing, and we’re delighted to invest in our common future.

“We want to try and start a manufacturing renaissance in the region.”

Scarborough has historic links with car production, and the event in Scarborough Spa included many automobile products among the exhibits, ranging from a wooden 1920s coach that has been rebuilt by apprentices from Bluebird Vehicles, to a Formula 1 racing car.

Also on display was a JCB Fastrac off-road vehicle, and the Angelic Bulldog streamliner motorcycle, which is being built to try and break the world motorcycle land speed record.

Advisers from local engineering companies, and the locally based education business partnership NYBEP were also on hand to talk to students. The event – which has now run for three years – was organised by the metalworking machine maker Unison, with the help of automobile manufacturers Plaxton and Bluebird Vehicles, and the Yorkshire Coast College. The exhibition was sponsored by York Potash.