NEWS 10 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS October 2025 www.hpmag.co.uk Over 1000 students from across the country showcased innovative solutions at London’s Barbican Centre this month for the grand finals of The National Careers Challenge, where students pitched their ideas to panels of industry judges. The event saw the youngest cohort, Year 7 students, aged 11-12, tackle a clean energy challenge set sponsored by Air Products, a world-leading industrial gases company. Air Products’ brief for the Year 7 pupils was focused on how gases can be used to reduce carbon emissions in towns and enable sustainable living. It also highlighted that achieving net zero affects every part of daily life – from the infrastructure we rely on, to the products we use, our homes, heating, and travel. The challenge aimed to provide the students with a valuable opportunity to apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills to practical, real-world scenarios focused on achieving positive sustainability outcomes. The team from Mossbourne Community Academy took home the winning trophy on the strength of their project Loch Haven. Kay Benjamin Richardson, the student captain of the Mossbourne Community Academy team said, “The experience was new, challenging and of course it was fun, being different to our routine lessons. It took some trial and error and debate to work out how best to design our town and make sure our ideas were logical – it was good to be able to use our Science and Geography knowledge to solve realworld problems. All the other teams did very well too, but my team and I were thrilled to represent Mossbourne at the finals – and win!” Abbie Crunkhorn, higher education and careers manager at Mossbourne added, “It is always incredible to see the creativity and problem-solving skills of the students kick in when presented with a challenge. But more than that, they are also able to develop soft skills that they will need in the workplace such as listening, speaking, leadership and teamwork. Such challenges go to show that businesses can absolutely get involved at this level to help students understand what working with STEM projects looks like.” The annual challenge underpins one of the most important needs to support the UK’s growth and energy transition – building the skills pipeline for the future. Community and STEM Ambassador at Air Products, Lynn Willacy said, “The recently launched Industrial Strategy marks skills development as crucial to driving the UK’s economic growth. At Air Products, we firmly believe in the benefits of early engagement, enabling young students to discover the huge potential of STEM subjects. Industrial gases have a huge range of applications – whether it’s hydrogen to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in transport, or oxygen to lower the amount of energy needed to heat furnaces.” The National Careers Challenge was established in 2013 by the Inspirational Learning Group to connect classrooms with workplaces and businesses. This year’s edition saw record participation with students developing practical skills while exploring diverse career paths for the future. National Challenge inspires students to pursue a future in STEM Public perception lags behind industry on sustainability On July 24 this year, the world reached the earliest ever Earth Overshoot Day – the day on which the global demand of ecological resources exceeds what the planet will generate per annum. The UK reached it much earlier on May 20th but has pushed that day back by 40 days since the first Earth Overshoot Day in 2006, when the country’s overshoot day fell on April 10. These dates highlight the extent to which our consumption overshoots sustainable limits – and how efforts by UK industry are already making a difference. The latest Attitudes to UK Industry (ATUKI) survey, launched to the technical press at a First Friday Club Editors’ Briefing on September 5, reveals that UK consumers are largely unaware of the scale and impact of the significant strides that industry is making in sustainability practices – which will contribute greatly to pushing the date back. In 2025 the UK exhausted its annual share of global resources on 20 May, pushing its country overshoot day back by 40 days from 10 April in 2006, when the calculations first began. The Department for Energy Security & Net Zero reported in February 2024 that UK has cut emissions by 50% between 1990 and 2022, largely due to cutting emissions from energy generation, because of a shift away from using coal to using renewables. In 2012, coal provided almost 40% of UK electricity, now it’s use is approaching zero – a huge step toward Net Zero targets. However, the ATUKI report shows that the UK public understanding of what Net Zero means in practice remains limited. The ATUKI report demonstrates the need for better alignment between industrial sustainability action and public perception. Executive Summary, Steve Brambley, CEO, GAMBICA commented: “Without public understanding, long-term support for sustainability strategies may weaken.” The ATUKI Summer 2025 Report, sponsored by Cadence Industrial & Technical Communications in partnership with Yonder Consulting, found that over two-thirds of the public (70%) believe the UK should increase its use of renewable energy. However, only 19% understand
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=