National robotics final to be held in HarrogateHarrogate student wins up to £20,000 bursary to pursue Formula 1 dream

A student from Harrogate who wants to work in Formula 1 has been granted a bursary worth up to £20,000 to help pursue a career in engineering.

Lenka Senešiová grew up in Slovakia and moved to the UK at 15 on a scholarship to attend Harrogate Ladies College.

She is now studying a master of engineering in computer science programme at the University of Aberdeen and has been named as one of 31 UK women students to receive an Amazon Future Engineer bursary.

The bursary, supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering, provides a financial support package of up to £20,000 to women students from low-income households..It aims to address under-representation of women in engineering and technology in higher education.

Ms Senešiová will also be matched with an industry mentor and provided with training and networking opportunities.

She said:

“It’s much more expensive to study here compared to my home country. Before receiving the news that I had been selected for the bursary, I was concerned I wouldn’t be able to continue my education here.

“Now I know I can focus on my studies and enjoy my university life without worrying about the financial side of things.”

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Teachers encouraged Ms Senešiová to explore STEM subjects, leading her to think about a future in engineering rather than in law.

She hopes to work as a race engineer, much like Hannah Schmitz, who is the chief strategist for Red Bull Racing.

She added:

“Seeing women like Hannah working in such a competitive industry and doing well is a real inspiration and gives me hope that I could achieve my dream job one day.”

The Amazon bursary supports female students to study computer science or related engineering courses at UK universities.

The awardees receive a package worth £5,000 per year, for up to four years of study, to cover expenses related to attending university, including tuition fees, accommodation, and living costs.

Harrogate engineering consultants expand into Belfast 

Business Breakfast is sponsored by Harrogate law firm Truth Legal. 

Harrogate engineering consultants expand

Harrogate-based building services engineering practice, Tate Consulting, has expanded into Belfast.

The move has created five new jobs with Belfast-born director Jim Lee set to continue splitting his time between Belfast and Harrogate.

This will be the fourth office for the company, which provides commercial engineering solutions.

It has already secured a number of contracts, including Belfast Waterside, a development of 500 homes by MODA Living and a logistics facility in Dublin.

Aaron Stevenson and Kevin Gallagher have also joined the team as associate director and mechanical associate.

Jim Lee, Tate consulting director, said:

“This expansion will give us a valuable foothold and added resource in Belfast as well as facilitating further expansion into the Dublin market.

“We’re already working on several high-profile projects and part of this success is due to us being able to attract a highly skilled team, who want to work on career defining projects. It’s great to be able to utilise the talent that exists in Northern Ireland.”

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Harrogate cafe opens deli shop

Café di Mamma Amelia on Harrogate’s King’s Road has expanded by opening a second shop a few doors down to sell deli foods and home-cooked ready meals.

Owner Antonio Cavinato said recent success had spurred him on to open a second business, similarly named Cucina di Mamma Amelia.

Both businesses are named after Mr Cavinato’s mother, who lives in Italy. The shop will sell a variety of meals to finish at home including the family’s secret recipe tiramisu, pizzas, lasagna and cannolis.

Antonio Cavinato

The new deli has allowed Mr Cavinato to hire two part-time staff and keep on his two full-time staff spreading the four staff and himself across both businesses. He said:

“When the opportunity came out of the blue to open a smaller business on King’s Road I came back from Italy and started small, but demand has soon outstripped what we could do in the small shop, and when No 148 became available, I decided to just go for it!

“Harrogate is a great town to run a business in, there is lots of support from locals for a small business, and I will now be running between the coffee shop and the deli up and down the street, so my gym will miss me!”

‘Go for it!’ says Harrogate district apprentice on Women in Engineering Day

An apprentice engineer working in the Harrogate district is urging more women to consider career opportunities in the sector.

Freya Osment joined Northern Gas Networks last year as an electrical and instrumentation apprentice.

To mark International Women in Engineering Day today, she has been discussing her role and why she’d recommend a career in engineering to anyone considering it – even if they are the only girl in a class full of boys.

She said:

“I always wanted to do something involving engineering. My dad was a mine engineer, and then moved into precision engineering and lathe work.

“Growing up I was kind of a tomboy, and I liked helping him out, helping fix things.

“At secondary school, I did the usual subjects but after I left, I went to college to study general engineering which I did for three years. That involved CAD, lathe work, welding.

“In my class of 30 students, I was the only girl. But I was in Army Cadets between 13 and 18, and always enjoyed doing logical things so it just felt like the right fit for me.”

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Northern Gas Networks said it is keen for more women to explore careers in the energy sector, adding to its existing workforce.

As well as apprentices, it has women working at senior levels and in green energy, such as hydrogen development manager Stella Matthews, whose role involves developing zero-carbon gas for heating domestic homes.

She said:

“My advice to girls wanting to get involved in engineering is ‘go for it’ and say yes to every opportunity. It’s such an exciting time to be involved in our industry, shaping the future of energy.

“We definitely don’t shout enough about our achievements. Role models are really needed, so girls interested in a career in engineering, or in industry, can see them and aspire to get there too. The more visible we are, the better.”

Gender decoder

Across the UK, 16.5% of engineers are women. This is the ninth year the country has marked International Women in Engineering Day, this time focusing on a theme of inventors and innovators.

NGN has a diversity and inclusion strategy to offer more opportunities to female engineers. It uses a gender decoder for its job adverts, ensuring their language suits anyone who might consider applying.

For women already employed by NGN, a women’s network community has been created to ensure women’s voices are heard across the organisation.

For Freya, there are more benefits to a career in engineering than enjoying her job. She spends her working hours travelling around Yorkshire to different ‘off-take’ sites and has days at college working towards two qualifications.

She added:

“My advice to any girl considering engineering would be to go for it, don’t worry about what people think and be yourself.

“If you like being out and about, days that are very different from each other and logical ways of working then it’s a great job to be doing.”

Andrew Lupton, sales director of Ripon firm Econ, dies suddenly

Ripon firm Econ Engineering has paid tribute to its “much-loved” sales director Andrew Lupton, who has died.

In a statement this morning, Econ said Mr Lupton had died “suddenly and unexpectedly” yesterday.

Mr Lupton, 56, ran the second-generation family business alongside his brother and co-director Jonathan Lupton and finance director Bev Shepherd.

The statement added:

“His untimely death has come as a terrible shock, and will take some time for us to come to terms with.

“Our thoughts at this incredibly sad time go out to his family and all those who knew Andrew, either professionally or personally.

“Andrew worked with immense passion and enthusiasm. It was his drive and determination that helped grow Econ into the business it is today.”

The company has set up a JustGiving page in Mr Lupton’s memory for people to pay tribute. The money raised will go to Harrogate Hospital & Community Charity.

The JustGiving page says the intensive care unit at Harrogate District Hospital cared for Andrew in his final hours.

Econ is the UK’s leading manufacturer of gritters and highway maintenance vehicles.

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It’s time again for celebration in Kirkby Malzeard

The hands of time are moving once more in Kirkby Malzeard after the clock on St Andrew’s Parish Church was fixed by a horological specialist.

The village timepiece has been repaired and re-set, after being stuck on 11.38 and 30 seconds since the morning of August 18, when a failed spring caused its pendulum to drop and stop swinging.

Installed in 1909 as part of a major restoration following a fire that destroyed the 12th century church in the previous year, the tower clock has been chiming the hours for 111 years.

An example of Edwardian precision engineering, it was built by William Potts & Sons at their former Cookridge Street Works in Leeds and the company, now part of the Smith of Derby group, has been carrying out an annual inspection and service ever since.

Photograph of Kevin Ireland and Christopher Slater with fixed clock

Time to celebrate – specialist clock engineer Kevin Ireland (left) and Christopher Slater with the clock at St Andrew’s Parish Church in Kirkby Malzeard working again

For the past 18 years, much of the maintenance work has been carried out by horological engineer Kevin Ireland – who was on hand to get it working again this week.

He told the Stray Ferret:

“It’s a flatbed clock designed for ease of maintenance and features a compensated pendulum made from metals that expand and contract depending upon changes in temperature, to ensure that an even swing is maintained.

“The pendulum is fundamental to accuracy of the time kept and this one also includes gravity escapements – parts of the mechanism that ensure the movement of the hands of the clock are not affected by weather conditions such as high winds.”

This same device forms part of the internal workings of the large Ripon Cathedral clock, also installed by Potts.

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Seeing the St Andrew’s hands back moving again provided a moment to celebrate for parish sexton and verger Christopher Slater. He has been looking after the clock for half a century and spent 33 of those years climbing the 30 stone steps to the ring room twice each week, to carry out winding duties with a huge metal key.

In 2003, with support from the community, Mr Slater, his wife Mary and daughter Susan, raised the funds for an electronic mechanism to be added, which automatically winds both the clock and its chimes.

That installation was also carried out by Potts. Mr Slater, said:

“On behalf of all who live in Kirkby MaIzeard, I would like to thank Kevin and his colleagues for ensuring that we all know exactly what time it is.”