At AgustaWestland (AWL), Folkson presented a certificate to John Ponsonby, UK managing director, in recognition of AWL gaining Institution accreditation for the company’s apprenticeship scheme. Folkson said it was important to support apprentices to go on and achieve professional registration as engineering technicians and to continue with their professional development.
The president was accompanied by Ian Parsons, chair of the Western region and of the Bath and Bristol Area; and by Alan King, Institution business development manager, and his colleague, Jill Dwyer.
In the afternoon the Institution party visited design and engineering company SC Group in Honiton, Devon. Nearly half the Group’s UK-based 30-strong engineering team have chartered engineer status or are working towards professional registration with the Institution. Five years ago there were two.
Members of the party visited the engineering team in the design office and toured the workshops, where they inspected Supacat’s new lightweight reconnaissance vehicle (LRV400) and SC Innovation’s Lifeboat Launch & Recovery System, developed with the RNLI.
The visit concluded at the test track, where Richard and the delegation from the Institution were invited to test-drive the ‘Jackal’ and other high-mobility vehicles, for which the Group is renowned.
Folkson said: “SC Group is a UK manufacturing success story. The equipment and vehicles [these engineers] are developing are integral to the work of the army, as well as lifeboat rescue teams, and show just how important it is for the UK to have a vibrant and skilled engineering workforce.”
