Bechtel has donated an additional £50,000 to the Institution of Engineering and Technology for its Launch Scholarship program in celebration of the company’s 70 years in the UK. The Launch Scholarship supports engineering students, degree apprentices, and apprentices who have faced financial challenges or personal obstacles. Bechtel’s donation will support at least eleven students every year for the duration of their education. The donation adds to the £680,000 (US$970,000) that Bechtel has gifted to the IET for its Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics educational outreach over the past decade.
“Bechtel has been a valued partner of the IET for almost a decade, including our founding sponsor for the FIRST® LEGO® League,” said Sir Julian Young, IET president. “This year’s additional donation will enable us to support even more young people on their academic or apprenticeship path into engineering. We thank Bechtel for its continued support of the next generation as they each pursue their dreams.”
“Engineering is a fulfilling career that helps tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, including diversifying our energy supply and achieving net zero. We need people from varied backgrounds to help us find the best solutions,” said John Williams, Bechtel’s UK and Ireland managing director. “We hope that this support will remove some of the obstacles that talented people can face in earning the qualifications needed to join our industry.”
Picture: IET Launch Scholarships support engineering students, degree apprentices, and apprentices who have faced financial challenges or personal obstacles.
Bechtel has supported the IET since 2013, including as a founding supporter of the FIRST® LEGO® League competition that enables young people between the ages of 4-16 years old to develop STEM skills through hands-on learning. Some 100,000 children have participated in the UK program with over 15,500 children participating in 2020-21 competition. Bechtel also supports FIRST® programs in Australia, Chile, and the United States. Read more about FLL in the UK here.
Bechtel’s 70th year in the UK coincides with Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and earlier this year it celebrated the opening of a new railway named in her honor, the Elizabeth Line, through central London. The company’s global infrastructure business is headquartered in the UK, from which it has directly supported projects across the UK, Ireland, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, accelerating progress, creating access and opportunity, building a path to net zero, and protecting people and our planet so that future generations thrive.
Picture: IET scholarships help people like Simone who is a Degree Apprentice studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering and working at Sellafield. Read about Simone here.
