As a Minister in the Department for Transport, Nus Ghani is heading up the Government’s ‘Year of Engineering’ campaign. There is a significant shortage of young people getting into engineering, so over the course of 2018, Nus will be encouraging more young people to take advantage of the exciting and rewarding opportunities engineering has to offer.
Nus visited the new Crossrail site at Farringdon in east London, where she spoke to a group of students from a nearby girls school about engineering, following a tour of the impressive examples of engineering in practice at a major project such as Crossrail.
Crossrail is just one example of the organisations, museums, galleries, schools, brands and companies that Nus will be working with to promote engineering to the next generation. Initiatives across the UK will be designed to capture the imagination of future engineers.
In July, Haywards Heath will host the Big Bang Fair South East, at which over 9,000 students and teachers will take part in a range of interactive workshops, shows and activities to try new things. Students will also meet engineers, scientists, apprentices and other representatives from local employers and discover what a future career in engineering might look like.
Commenting on the campaign, Ms Ghani said: “One of the privileges of being an MP is meeting our bright and intelligent students throughout Wealden. The enthusiasm and talent of the next generation will serve us well in the future, but engineering is an all too often ignored field by young people.
“It is vital that we get more young people into the field if we are to continue to lead the world on great engineering projects in future.
“I am delighted to be heading up the Year of Engineering campaign and look forward to sharing the amazing opportunities engineering can offer to young people.
“There is also a notable gender imbalance in the field, and in the centenary year of women getting the vote it is especially pertinent that we encourage more young girls to get stuck in.”