Visionary: EngTech Robert Manley

From when he was a toddler Robert Manley, now 22, showed a talent for engineering and a hunger to find out how things worked.

“Everything I could get my hands on I took apart - unfortunately putting them back together was another issue.” His parents discovered a model engineering club aimed at teenagers and adults and the club was persuaded to let Manley join by the time he was six or seven.

“I was the youngest by some years. Some of them took me under their wing and I started building model steam trains - the big ones that can pull people along.”

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BACKGROUND

• A vision to inspire

• Crying out for new recruits

• Make science fun to catch them young

• Drive to beat engineering skills shortage

Now Manley, who has begun a mechanical engineering degree at Loughborough University has been honoured as an IMechE Visionary in tribute to his lifelong enthusiasm for engineering and his passion for enthusing others.

Disappointed that his own engineering bent was not nurtured by his teachers, Manley volunteered to help out at two schools to show children the fun and challenge of engineering.

By the time Manley was 16 he had had enough of school and took up an engineering apprenticeship with the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston.

“It was the best choice of my life. We started by building a complete tool set that would equip us with tools for the rest of our working lives.

“It was fantastic fun. The next two years were spent in the wider business, moving every three months to a new department. I would beg anyone who isn’t sure what they want to do after school to do an apprenticeship.

“I helped at a school in Reading with the IMechE challenge to build model robot racing cars, and later at a school in Thatcham where I mentored kids struggling with their GCSE technology coursework.

“My role was to explain how to make stuff and show them how to do research. One kid has gone to college to do a motor mechanics course. He didn’t have a clue when we first met and now he is on the way to a good career.

“My vision for the future is to get primary schools interested in engineering. In the next 15 to 20 years, if the nuclear power stations we need are to be built, we will need many more engineers.

“My proudest boast is that while I was at apprentice school at Aldermaston I arranged for 20 under16 year olds doing the robot car challenge to look around the Atomic Weapons Establishment. It was difficult because of the tight security. Since then one of the students has started an apprenticeship there - a real thumbs up for networking.”

Manley was the first engineering technician to enrol as an IMechE recognised EngTech when the scheme was launched. He had already studied part time at college and gained his HND.

“It’s fantastic for engineering technicians to be recognised at a professional level. You have to prove your competence and provide evidence, but it’s worthwhile. If two technicians go for a job with the same qualifications and experience, the one who is an IMechE EngTech can expect to get the job.

“When I left school I was only interested in making and designing stuff, but thanks to the encouragement and support from IMechE I decided I was ready to do a degree.

“I chose Loughborough because it was the best engineering university course. I’m taking a three-year mechanical engineering degree, but I plan to work my socks off so that I can get bumped up to the Master’s degree course.”

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