To pursue an award, applicants must have spent a minimum of two years as an apprentice and possess
excellent academic abilities, as well as the personal qualities that will enable scholars to succeed in industry. In return, they receive £5,000 for each year of full-time study on an MEng or MSc course in any engineering discipline. On completion of their degree, each award holder is entitled to use the title ‘Whitworth Scholar’ with the designatory letters WhSch. As you would expect of such a prestigious scheme, these young engineers often develop into real high flyers, indeed 13 Whitworth Scholars have gone on to become President of the Institution. Since 1984, 50% of Whitworth Scholars have gained first-class honours engineering degrees.
Lee Griffiths AMIMechE is a Business Metrologist in the Structures and Transmissions Department at Rolls-Royce. He did his technical apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce in Derby, and then was a Manufacturing Engineer in jig, fixture and manufacturing method planning whilst studying a part time degree in Mechanical Engineering at Nottingham Trent University.
After his degree, he spent a six month sabbatical travelling and a year at Bentley Motors as a Manufacturing Feasibility Engineer. He then returned to Rolls-Royce as a CAD/CAM specialist. His next move was into metrology, which coincidentally is the same field as Joseph Whitworth. This position enables him to use all his skills and experience, and more importantly work alongside the shop floor, which he particularly enjoys.
At school Lee was strong in the STEM subjects and, despite school pushing him towards university, he was attracted to the combination of study and work that apprenticeships give. He has always enjoyed the handson engineering, and finds that t he practical skills still give an important grounding to his job in metrology.
“I am really enjoying working in metrology”, explains Lee. “The work is very varied; with chances to visit suppliers, liaise with different areas of Rolls-Royce, as well as travel. I am keen to continue building my specialist knowledge in this field. Metrology is pivotal to everything we do in engineering and covers a large number of fields from manufacturing components to analysing aerodynamics, and I enjoy the diversity. As the aerospace industry copes with increasing demand to travel and pressure to reduce costs and emissions, engineers will need to make components cheaper, quicker and more efficiently without jeopardising quality and integrity. Metrology is very much key to achieving this.
”He is a keen advocate of apprenticeships for providing the right skills for industry. “It is important that engineers have the core or practical engineering skills, not just academic knowledge. I think that apprenticeships provide a strong gr funding for engineering careers.”
“Looking forward it is important that UK engineering remains competitive against other countries, namely China and India which are developing fast,” Lee says. “It is often cost effective to subcontract component manufacturer to other countries, but they are learning fast and may soon become competitors to the UK. It is important to be selective and strategic with what we manufacture and develop and retain a skilled workforce, particularly in cutting edge engineering.
We must not to become complacent and risk our stronghold in engineering.” Lee has been a member of the Whitworth Society Committee for the last three years and will be the President of the Society next year. The Society promotes apprenticeships, as well as providing financial support. He found that the Whitworth Scholarship not only gave him financial support during his degree studies, but also was useful on his CV and gave him access to a unique network of engineers. “The Whitworth Scholars have all done appreniceships before their degree, and we are a group of likeminded people who are keen to support one another in our jobs. I am delighted to have been chosen as the Whitworth Visionary and represent these engineers.”
Read about all the awards recognised at the Vision Awards