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ACE has supported
industrial designer and engineer Sir James Dyson in asking ministers to
back large projects that could help answer environmental problems and
encouraged more young professionals to pursue careers in engineering.
Dyson,
the pioneer responsible for the eponymous vacuum cleaner, said this
week that “refocusing ourselves on people and institutions that can
solve our environmental problems and our wealth and trading problems in
the process”, should be at the top of the government’s agenda, adding
that young people were being put off by the perceived lack of focus
towards engineering.
The entrepreneur said that it was
possible to solve many of the world’s environmental issues by utilising
the skills and expertise of the UK’s engineers and that compared to
programmes in other countries, the discipline figured relatively lowly
on the list of government priorities. “Look at the French rail network
and its nuclear programme,” he said. “They work.”
Dyson was
speaking at the launch of his latest invention, an electric motor that
spins faster than a jet engine. He plans to incorporate the design,
developed by his engineers without any public funds over the course of
a decade, into his handheld vacuum cleaners.
ACE chief executive Nelson Ogunshakin said that Dyson was “100 per cent correct” in his claims.
“When
someone like Sir James Dyson, whose passion and knowledge is
unparalleled in this country, speaks out to implore Government to
support our engineers, you hope that Westminster takes notice.
“For
all that they can offer the world, consultants and engineers are feebly
supported by those who hold the purse-strings. Just think what they
would be able to contribute with the backing which their expertise
easily justifies.”
Ogunshakin said much attention would be
focused on the UK’s engineers during the FIDIC 2009 London conference
taking place in September, and that the conference would provide an
opportunity to illustrate the capabilities and potential in consultancy
and engineering in this country.
“The eyes of the world will be
trained towards the historic conference and London is privileged to be
hosting it. Here is a chance which the sector has to grasp collectively
and with both hands, especially given the conference’s theme of
delivering sustainable solutions to global challenges. There will never
be a better moment for engineers to stand up and be counted.”
-ENDS-
Further information from ACE senior communications executive Piers Nutbrown on 020 7202 0255, or email pnutbrown@acenet.co.uk
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