ENGINEERS of the future have been inspired by the visit of an ambassador representing a company which has built some of the world’s most iconic bridges.

Connor Lishman, a junior engineer at Cleveland Bridge, visited Hurworth School, near Darlington, for a special “STEM Day” in which pupils were challenged to design and build a bridge.

STEM stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths” and is a global initiative aimed at encouraging youngsters to engage with local industry and understand how those key subjects are applied in careers.

Connor, 22, was born and bred in Darlington and attended the Education Village in the town, before embarking on a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering at Darlington College, and then joining Cleveland Bridge.

The day started with Connor showing a video of some of the Darlington company’s best-known projects, including: the Sydney Harbour Bridge; The Shard in London; the Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong; and the Wembley Arch.

The pupils were then split into teams and tasked with using special computer software to design a fictitious replacement for nearby Croft bridge which had been “washed away in a storm”.

Once the bridges had been designed, they had to “reverse engineer” the structures to make the construction as cost-effective as possible before making scale models.

Connor said: “Days like this are really important, not just so we can showcase our proud industrial heritage, but to encourage youngsters to want to continue that work in the future.”

Hurworth is the only school in Darlington to offer a double GCSE in engineering, and Head of Design and Technology, Jamie Smith, said: “There is a real skills gap in high-level engineering and it’s all about changing the perception and providing inspiration because it can lead to fantastic careers all over the world.”

The individual winners of the bridge design project were Jack Davies, Jermaine Daniels, Esa Rehman, Joel Highfield, Alex Wong and Jacob Warwick. Jacob was the over winner who designed the strongest bridge for the cheapest price.

In the practical team competition, the strongest bridges were manufactured by a team comprising Ella Buckley, Harriet Foster, Hollie Staples, Lucy Moohan and Millie Green; and a team comprising Matthew Wilson, Harrison Foster and Joe Clendenning.

The prizes were presented by Gary Kipling, Structures Production Manager at Cleveland Bridge, who said: “The students did a fantastic job taking their designs from concept to reality and using their STEM learning in a practical scenario.  I think there could be some future structural engineers among the students!”