Last month The Welding Institute’s Northumbria Branch hosted its 88th Annual Dinner, Showcase and Student of the Year Awards 2022 at the Newcastle Civic Centre.

With over 245 people in attendance, including 16 local companies showcasing their goods and services, the Annual Dinner was a success!

Student Awards

The annual dinner also included a Student Achievement Awards Ceremony with the winners being:

1st place: Courtney Newton – WD Close

2nd place: Daniel Bishop – Dyer Engineering

3rd place: Bradley Mitchell – Responsive Engineering

4th place: Mollie Leach – A&P Tyne

5th place: Ryan Anderson – Francis Brown

Congratulations to all student award winners and entrants and additionally thank you to all of the award sponsors: Lincoln Electric, Gorilla Workwear and Eng EPA.

Younger Members’ Vice Chair and Northumbria Branch representative and Dyer Engineering SHEQ Assurance Engineer, Adam Black AWeldI, supported in the coordination and organisation of this event and provided the following statement:

“This event was a bit of a trailblazer with the numbers in 2020 down to 90 attending we knew we had to freshen it up and get as much recognition and support for the next generation of students. To do this we added networking and the company showcase and got to work promoting the event, luckily this was a huge success with numbers in attendance hitting 245, 16 companies showcasing themselves and networking, over £5000 worth of prizes to give away on the night and, the highlight, student of the year award!!!

My role as Vice Chair on the Younger Members’ Committee (YMC) gives me the chance to inspire. I remember reading a quote “Legacy is not what I did for myself it’s what I’m doing for the next generation,” how true can that be? We need to excite, engage and inspire to keep achieving and excelling the next generation of engineers. The opportunity we have to do this by showcasing the industry means everything and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve as a Branch and a YMC over the coming years!!!”

TWI Head of Marketing, Mike Emmett AWeldI was also in attendance at the annual dinner and provided the following statement:

“A tremendously well organised event, with a wealth of sponsors from across industry. It was a very special moment to see the young apprentices and students, being rewarded for excellence and making them front and centre of the event.”

The Welding Institute would like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all those involved in organising, coordinating, volunteering and executing this successful event!

Check out their amazing drone footage and video of the event on their YouTube:

Look out for - Members will also be able to find out more about this event and the winners in the Younger Members’ section of the next edition of our ‘Welding and Joining Matters’ Journal!