The University of  Sunderland and industry partner the Reece Foundation support the Primary Engineer & Secondary Engineer Leaders Award competition for North East England. Staff of both Reece and the university along with student engineers will be interviewed by primary and secondary school pupils across the North East region and further afield to find out more about engineering. The children are then challenged to design a solution to a problem they wish to tackle. The winners of the North East competition will be showcased at the Awards Ceremony & Exhibition in 2019.

The Primary Engineer & Secondary Engineer Leaders Award gives pupils across the North East of England the opportunity for children and pupils to interview engineers about their career paths and motivation. Schools are able to develop relationships with industry, both local and national, giving pupils a unique perspective of the engineering profession and its significance in the wider world. This project has evolved into a creative, problem solving, literacy and entrepreneurial project. As pupil’s interview engineers and research engineering in general they are encouraged to look at the world around them to find problems an engineered solution could solve. Every entry has been  graded by engineers and educationalists, all entries receive named certificates