The winners of The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition have been named. The Big Bang Competition, run by EngineeringUK, is a national competition for young engineers, scientists and technologists aged 11 to 18. The top three winners each receive £1000 prize money. Kanav Jain, a student from Broxburn, Scotland is crowned UK Young Engineer of the Year 2026, supported by Thales, for his project ‘AeroAid: Autonomous VTOL quadplane’. Kanav is currently in S4 and entered via community group, First Step Robotics.

More information www.bit.ly/3QHkot6

The NCC (National Composites Centre) has appointed Mark Garrett and Tim Minshall as non-executive advisors.The organisation is entering a period of sustained expansion, with growing demand for its expertise from businesses of all sizes. With its strengthened board, the NCC will provide independent oversight and strategic challenge as it continues to scale delivery and impact.CEORich Oldfield says:“Our mission is to translate advanced research into real industrial capability. Mark and Tim’s experience across innovation, governance and academia bolsters our ability to do that at pace and with national reach.”

More information www.nccuk.com

The University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) has secured £1m funding to establish HyDecarb, a first-of-its-kind, open-access research capability dedicated to the decarbonisation of industrial natural gas. It provides a real-world, industrial-scale testbed for manufacturers to trial hydrogen fuel-switching in a controlled environment. The AMRC’s open-access infrastructure removes the technical and financial barriers that have traditionally made the transition to low-carbon energy too risky for individual manufacturers to attempt alone.

More information www.amrc.co.uk

A record number of entries have been received for this year’s Leeds Manufacturing Festival Awards, as manufacturers across the region continue to invest in young talent at a time when employers in other sectors warn entry-level roles for young people are disappearing. The awards, which take place next week, attracted 45 nominations from 19 companies, up from 38 entries from 18 businesses last year. Organisers say the increase reflects growing recognition of the role manufacturing can play in providing long-term career opportunities for young people.

More information www.leedsmanufacturingfestival.co.uk