Thursday 18th March 2010 will see rail professionals join forces
with academia and industry bodies at the Roundhouse in Derby to
promote the railway industry as a viable, exciting and sustainable
career option for the next generation as part of innovation Rail
(iRail) 2010.
Organised by East Midlands Development Agency's Transport iNet
through the Derby and Derbyshire Rail Forum (DDRF) and supported by
the Derbyshire Economic Partnership, the iRail inaugural event will
start with an early morning business breakfast networking event for
senior local figures. Invited guests include East Midlands Trains,
Bombardier as well as representatives from local bodies and
professional institutions
Students from 12 Derby and Derbyshire schools will then
participate in the iRail enterprise challenge, where they will
visit either Bombardier or Derby Railway station for an insight
into building trains or the inner workings of the railway. The
budding engineers will be posed an engineering problem which they
will have to solve using the resource and know-how of industry
professionals participating on the day. Following group
presentations, the two final teams will then be judged by a iRail's
panel of experts, including musical mogul and keen rail enthusiast,
Pete Waterman, who will decide the outright winners to be crowned
"iRail Student Enterprise Champions" for 2010.
The iRail day will come to a close with a distinguished lecture
from Professor Roderick Smith, ScD, FREng from the Royal Academy of
Engineering at Imperial College, a Network Rail Research Professor
of Railway Engineering and Chair of the Future Railway Research
Centre. A current Vice President of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers, Professor Smith will present to an invited audience on
the future of rail.
Cliff Perry from DDRF, said: "iRail is all about the local rail
industry showing our young people that rail offers an exciting and
well rewarded career path. Through the different activities on the
day we hope to spark new relationships between employers, academics
and trade bodies to encourage young engineers to see rail as a
great place to use their skills."
John Frodsham, Director of the Transport iNet, said: "We are
aiming for this to become an annual fixture in the educational and
industry calendar. Rail is a sustainable transport option for the
future and we want to encourage the best and brightest engineers to
consider rail as an exciting and interesting career choice."
iRail 2010 is a key event in the 2010 innovation Festival
(iFestival). The iFestival is the UK's largest celebration of
innovation and takes places between the 12th March and the 23rd
April.
The Transport iNet, which is based at Loughborough University,
is funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The aim of the iNet is
to share expertise and stimulate the research and development of
new products, services and processes across the five transport
sectors, rail, marine, automotive, motorsport and aerospace.