Digital and electrification pioneer Siemens is our headline sponsor for the 2019 AMRC Training Centre Apprentice of the Year Awards.

The global technology powerhouse has been a symbol of engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 170 years, and shares the AMRC Training Centre’s passion for developing the young engineers of future.

It is delighted to be headline sponsor of this year’s awards which take place tomorrow at the stunning Firth Hall at the University of Sheffield’s Firth Court campus. The annual awards event is one of the highlights of the AMRC Training Centre calendar and recognises the achievement, innovation, fresh thinking and contribution our apprentices and their employers make to industry.

Siemens, a standard bearer for Industry 4.0 digital technology and smart factories of the future, focuses on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalisation. Siemens UK is a Tier 1 member of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), and shares close research links with the university.

The company will present the AMRC Training Centre 2019 Apprentice of the Year winner with a special trip to its award-winning Industry 4.0 smart factory in Amberg.

Brian Holliday, Managing Director Siemens Digital Factory, knows full well the value apprenticeships can bring to industry having begun his career as an apprentice with Texas Instruments before going on to read Computer Systems at Cardiff University, joining Siemens in 1993.

Holliday presented evidence to the government’s Education Select Committee last year when they made the AMRC Training Centre their first port of call for the all-party Education Committee’s inquiry into what impact the Fourth Industrial Revolution might have on education and society.

He was involved in a roundtable discussion and took the opportunity to explain why growing the UK’s pool of skilled engineering apprentices is crucial to meeting the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. At the time of giving evidence, Siemens had more than 570 apprentices in its system. 

Holliday said Siemens is pleased to be sponsoring the 2019 awards ceremony: “These awards help inspire the next generation, help the UK get the skills it needs for the Fourth Industrial Revolution whilst celebrating the achievements of young apprentices. That’s why we are delighted to sponsor the 2019 AMRC Training Centre Apprentice of the Year Awards.”