Dr. Brian Iddon MP and TV Presenter and Ambassador for Engineering, Johnny Ball were amongst the judges at an Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) “Engineering Public Challenge” Competition at the Arndale Centre in Manchester last Saturday.

The competition, which involved North Western Young Members of the IMechE, asked entrants to design and manufacture, from scratch, a fruit and vegetable peeler to be used by disabled people.

Statistics show that 10 million people – or one in five of the population - are living with a disability, of those 7000,000 are children and 4.7 million are pensioners.

Following research that indicated 70% of young people between 16-19 years had no idea what being an engineer involved, the IMechE engineers were keen to demonstrate the importance engineering plays in developing devices and appliances that can help disabled people in their everyday lives.   

Dr. Iddon said,

“I was delighted to be able to help judge this competition, along with Johnny Ball. I was incredibly impressed at the high standard and originality of the ideas amongst the young engineers. I think it is vital to demonstrate the importance of engineering and its relevance to everyday life in order to encourage more young people to pursue a career in engineering and the sciences.”