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South Yorkshire based engineering consultants MG Bennett &
Associates is hotting up its search for the engineers of the future. The company
is seeking to expand its current sponsorship programme, which assists
engineering students through university, in a bid to provide a potential source
of engineers and designers to support its future requirements.
"We have become a victim of our own success in the last couple of
years and as our reputation has grown so has the number of projects that we are
winning. One result of this is that we need to recruit more quality engineers –
a task that is proving far from simple. It seems that just as engineering was
beginning to attract people back into the profession, the high-tech boom came
along and once again there is a shortage of graduate engineers," explains
managing director Nick Cooper.
"In addition to our existing sponsorship programme we have
participated in the Royal Academy of Engineering's 'year in industry' programme
for over 10 years and at the moment we have a total of 8 students working with
us at various stages of their education.
"A recent recruitment drive saw two graduates join our permanent
staff last month, which helps our short-term plans, but looking to the longer
term we are eager to secure a steady stream of potential candidates. To this end
we are currently in discussions with several universities with a view of not
only increasing our sponsorship commitments but also the possibility of creating
a degree course tailored to our particular style of engineering.
"Our business has a very broad base. We work on projects as varied
as the Airbus A380 super-jumbo airliner, undersea pipelines and moving bridges
such as the Gateshead Millennium and Lowry Centre bridges and as a result we
want to recruit for a number of specialities. More importantly we are looking
for people who will fit in with our rather unique way of thinking and working.
"Bennett Associates is far from traditional in its working
practice. We encourage creative thinking and with all our projects we approach
the problems from a fresh perspective. Our modus operandi is always to pare
every task back to basic principles and build from there, treating the project
as a whole rather than reducing it to a series of individual problems that have
to be solved one at a time. This culture may be at odds with the way student
engineers have been educated but we see it as the secret to our success and
those that join us certainly find it a very creative and liberating environment
in which to work."
Bennett Associates is a solution provider to a wide range of
engineering fields with particular areas of expertise including tunnelling
machinery, pipelines and movable structures. The company’s sphere of influence
is however continually expanding, as its reputation for creative engineering
attracts the attention of new markets including the aerospace industry where the
company is currently designing tooling solutions for the forthcoming Airbus A380
super jumbo passenger aircraft.
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