1 Jun 2015

Competition will help young engineers and apprentices to showcase their skills

Engineers of Tomorrow, the annual competition that encourages the development of future talent within the security sector, is a true advocate for apprenticeships.

Helping young engineers and apprentices to showcase their skills, Engineers of Tomorrow is a competition that allows apprentices in the security sector to prove themselves. Undertaking a 90-minute assessment, participants assess a previously installed intruder alarm system, identify the faults, re-commission the system and then apply any additional security and safety measures.

More than 50 apprentices & young engineers will be taking part

More than 50 apprentices and young engineers will be taking part in the 2015 competition, running from 16 – 18 June on the show floor from IFSEC International at ExCeL London. Companies that have entered their apprentices to the competition include: CIA, Kings Security, Clarion, PG Security, Telecam, NM Fire & Security, H&J Martin, Banham, Mitie, Meridian Systems, Abel Alarms, Security Solutions, EFT and Swift.

Each entrant is assessed by a leading panel of judges from the security inspectorates and points are allocated based on performance in the various disciplines. Having been tested on a range of skills, contestants will be in with the chance of winning one of the prizes from the competition sponsors, to be shared by the successful pairs. First prize is £1000 donated by competition sponsors CSL Dualcom, second prize is £500 Red Letter Day Vouchers donated by NSI and third prize is £300 donated by SSAIB.

Participant of 2014 Engineers of Tomorrow competition, Nathan Lyles from Kings Security provided advice to 2015 entrants: "I'd recommend they take their time, read through everything thoroughly, don't rush and worry. Make sure you ask questions before you need to start and just try your best!”

Benefits of Engineers of Tomorrow

Commenting on the benefits of Engineers of Tomorrow being located at IFSEC International, Lyles said: "You learn things about the equipment that you don't even know it's capable of doing, see cameras integrating with intruder alarm systems”.

Running in parallel with the Engineers of Tomorrow programme is the 100 in 100 initiative, an apprenticeship recruitment scheme designed specifically for the UK security sector.