Engineering Development Trust award for student Taylor

Taylor Aitchison has won the Engineering Development Trust's Scottish Contribution to the Business Award for his outstanding business improvement project.

Mechanical engineering student Taylor was recognised for a project completed while working with Bosch Rexroth UK as part of the EDT Year in Industry (YINI) programme. The CTTB Awards celebrate the achievements of school leavers and undergraduates during their Year in Industry - a paid 12-month work experience programme.

Taylor said: "I'd like to express my thanks to everyone from the EDT, YINI and Bosch Rexroth, for this opportunity and their unwavering commitment to young engineers. This award is a huge honour and unexpected given the quality of projects presented.

"This has been an immensely rewarding opportunity that has given me a solid grounding of what to expect in industry. My component improvement project has opened many new avenues of engineering I hadn't previously been exposed to. I have made many valuable contacts with various specialities: designers, suppliers and metallurgists for example. Each of these have presented unique experiences and knowledge which will stand me well in the future."

Adam MacPhee, Engineering Manager at Bosch Rexroth, said: "Congratulations to Taylor and to all the finalists on their excellent presentations. We are delighted that Taylor has been recognised with this award. The high level of work and meaningful achievements demonstrated by the finalists underline the benefit of the Year in Industry scheme to young people and companies alike, and give me great confidence in the future of engineering in the UK."

Fellow GCU students Andrew Brownlie and Jennifer Shearer made the final six for the title and Jennifer was also awarded the Best Use of IT for her project, which saw her work on the Network Asset Management System (NAMS), the largest ever IT change project introducing a solution to improve how SP Energy Networks operate.