Shayne Hadland, WorldSkills UK Champion and Silver Medallist at WorldSkills São Paulo 2015, was guest of honour at the UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge which took place on 21 May.

The Challenge, which has been running since 2006, aims to inspire the next generation of engineers by setting students aged 11 to 18 the challenge of designing, building and launching a model rocket.

Shayne, who completed his advanced apprenticeship with RAF Cosford and now works for RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, spoke to the students about his career as an aircraft engineer and his experience of competing at WorldSkills.

Shayne said:  “It was great to meet so many students at the Challenge who were passionate about engineering. My apprenticeship and competing in the WorldSkills UK Competitions opened so many doors for me and it was brilliant to be able to share my experiences and show young people that they too could be named one of the best engineers in the world.”

The winners of the UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge could go onto compete against teams from France, USA and Japan at the Farnborough International Airshow which takes place from 11 to 17 July. 

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