THE average age of an engineer in the region is 52, says Stan Higgins, chief executive of the North East Process Industry Cluster (Nepic).

Like the increasingly elderly building site workers in the construction industry, the lack of engineers in the North-East could present a major problem.

Up to £10bn of investment is expected to be invested in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries in the North-East in the next ten years.

That figure is the estimate of Nepic, the group set up by development agency One NorthEast to promote the process sector. Nepic represents 350 companies, which help to contribute £8bn to the regional economy each year.

But Mr Higgins says the figure of £10bn is the best-case scenario, and his team is using the more conservative estimate of £4.5bn - a more realistic figure.

He said: "All kinds of global matters can impact on these things.

"We know there is this potential investment, it is not just guesswork. But it could be affected by, say, energy prices and infrastructure."

At Nepic's official North-East launch at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, County Durham, last month, members gathered to discuss issues facing the sector - the main ones being skills and infrastructure.

Not only could the sector have up to £10bn invested in it in ten years, it is also expected to grow by £2bn, with its output rising from £8bn a year to £10bn a year.

But without a skilled workforce, Nepic fears the sector will stagnate - something it is working hard to avoid.

Mr Higgins says: "We have major issues with skills. How do we get enough engineers in the North-East? We have a massive skills shortage.

"We are importing engineers from Poland as we speak.

"About 85 per cent of teachers know nothing about industry, and we have to change that so they can encourage children to think about engineering."

Nepic runs a scheme, Children Challenging Industry, to raise awareness about industry among children and their teachers.

It now employs a handful of industry-aware teachers to visit the 800 primary schools in the region each year, spreading the engineering gospel.

Nepic research has shown there are 45 biotech companies in the North-East, predicting growth of about 1,200 jobs.

Mr Higgins says: "We have had someone go in and pressure-test those figures and they are real jobs. The only thing that will stop that happening is the lack of qualified people. So, at the moment, we are working to try to generate a new training course for biotechnicians."

In general, he says, the market is flooded with graduates, something partly due to the Government's policy of getting more teenagers into university.

"The industry does not want graduates at the moment," he says. "They want fresh-out-of-school 18-year-old science-qualified children to train in biotechnology, or whichever area.

"There are too many graduates, doing these jobs they are overqualified for, so they are more likely to leave and go somewhere else.

"And in terms of biotechnology, very few teachers even know about it.

"A fully qualified process operator can earn £50,000 a year. And biotechnicians are going to be running at a premium because there will be so few of them.

"We need more process technicians, biotechnicians, occupational engineers, electrical, civil and instrument engineers, in the industry."

Nepic has also been working with Teesside, Sunderland, Durham, Northumbria and Newcastle universities to generate more targeted science courses.

It is talking to Sunderland University about bringing back a qualified person course - those people responsible for signing off pharmaceuticals as being safe for public consumption - something the region desperately needs.

"Companies are sending people down for training every week from this region to Brighton," says Mr Higgins. "Sunderland used to have a qualified person course, so we are talking to them about bringing it back."

Nepic also has a mobile laboratory going to schools, showing scientific experiments to teachers and pupils. The process industry makes up £8bn of the region's £32bn annual gross domestic product, and the aim is to grow it to £10bn by 2015.

But Mr Higgins says: "With all the pressure on energy costs and margins in some areas, we will probably have to increase the sector by £4bn to counteract any casualties along the way, with companies having to either move or close because of oil and gas prices."

The other key issue Nepic is working on is infrastructure. It is backing PD Ports' aim to invest £300m in a deep-sea container terminal on the River Tees, which will help the region's chemical and pharmaceutical companies, and it is also campaigning for better road and air links.

"The North-South road links are extremely important because the industry has connections with Edinburgh, London and Manchester," says Mr Higgins.

"The Newcastle to New York air link is also very important logistically. We have speciality companies that make fragrances, so they need links to the design houses in New York, Paris, Milan, which buy and sell those fragrances."

Nepic has 210 members, but is aiming to have 350. As well as key chemical companies such as Huntsman on board, it also has members in the service sector, which work with the process industries, including logistics companies, law firms and PR companies.