星空传媒

The seventh annual digest of statistics published by the Engineering Council and the Engineering and Technology Board, gives a mixed picture of engineering today. The report looks at what engineers contribute to the UK economy as well as analysing the next generation of engineers and scientists.

The good news is that academic standard of those entering university to study engineering and science continues to rise slowly. However, there is concern that young people are being pushed towards taking degrees rather than encouraging some to take up opportunities such as Modern Apprenticeships.

As a result there is a real danger that while those who leave university with top degrees can walk into the very best jobs, those with less academic sparkle are left with poor prospects.

Looking further into the future, the report says that the number of students opting for A level maths, physics or chemistry and aiming to study these at university is falling rapidly. Over the last ten years, A levels awarded in mathematics have fallen 16%, physics by 22% and chemistry by 15%. On the other hand, those gaining A levels in computer science has risen by 175%.

Research by the Engineering and Technology Board and the Engineering Council among 17 year olds shows that this difference is reflected in students鈥� perceptions of engineering. In the minds of young people 鈥榚ngineering鈥� has a negative image, based on the view that it is dirty, manual, intellectually undemanding and 鈥榖oring鈥�.

The impact of friends, parents and the media on career choice can鈥檛 be underestimated. It is far stronger than careers advice 鈥� in fact the Engineering and Technology Board research carried out in 2003 concluded that the role of careers advice has limited impact due to the strong influence of parents, friends and the media.

Doug Oughton, a former CIBSE president and interim chairman of the newly formed Industry Education and Training Group, says that this should not be underestimated: 鈥淨uite a number of young people come into the industry because they鈥檙e influenced by family or friends. It would be nice to think we could encourage engineers to let young people they know about what a good career this can be.鈥�

Reaching children before they select A levels is crucial. 鈥淲e need to talk to the universities to try to establish what the requirements are and how best to get the message into schools,鈥� says Oughton.

But there is a danger that another group will confuse the message: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to duplicate what鈥檚 going on elsewhere, so we would support the existing Engineering and Technology Board. 星空传媒 services has to focus on its own sector, and here there are a number of things that can be done: 鈥� There are steps we can take as building services engineers to work out how we might reach school-age pupils.

鈥淎t the moment there is little information on what we do available for children at that age. We have been trying to regenerate interest in launching a website within the CIBSE website where children and teachers can access information.鈥�

The huge advantage building services has is its strong links with environmental and sustainability issues. These are subjects of great interest to many young people, and something that Oughton believes we can capitalise on as an industry.

That鈥檚 not to say that a good start hasn鈥檛 already been made.The Imagineering event has proved successful at showing young people just what building services is. Oughton would like to build on this success. 鈥淲e have supported one of the Imagineering events for three years now, but there are more going on around the country. We are looking at how we might get a presence at these other events.鈥� One part of this would be to have some hands-on style exhibits which could be used by those taking part, which could be taken from one event to another.

This kind of event relies on CIBSE members volunteering to give up their time 鈥� and this is a crucial lesson. With friends and family clearly the best advocates for a career in engineering, it鈥檚 worth remember that all services engineers can have a personal impact on the number of people coming into the sector.

• Individuals or companies interested in joining the Group should contact Samantha McDonough on 020 8675 5211.