Apprentice graduate shortlisted for national engineering award

Jake Duthie, who earned record-breaking results as he achieved his first-class BEng Hons degree in Mechanical Engineering last summer, has reached the finals of the prestigious SEMTA (the Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies Alliance) Awards in the Graduate/Degree Apprentice category.

He has made the final shortlist alongside degree apprentices from Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Bridgewater and Taunton College and will travel to London in March to discover if he has been awarded the top title. 

Jake travels the world in his role as project support engineer at Pipeline Induction Heat Ltd, Burnley, and has worked on major pipeline projects across America, China, Qatar and Singapore.

He started his journey to success at Burnley College Sixth Form Centre as an Advanced Vocational Engineering student before progressing to a Themis Apprenticeship where he combined workplace experience with training. He took his skills to the next level through university-level study at University Courses Burnley, where he completed a HNC and HND before studying for his degree in which he achieved the highest marks ever recorded.

The SEMTA awards are the latest success for Jake. He received the Exceptional Achievement Award at the 2019 Themis Inspire and Achieve Awards and also the Lancashire Business View Sub36 Award.

He said: "I’m passionate about Engineering: it’s a great career in which every day is different and there are always new challenges to face. I’m now taking a Masters Degree in Engineering and aim to become a nationally-recognised expert in my field and influencing the future of the industry."

Neil Burrows, director of Themis, who also made the finals of the SEMTA awards in 2019 in the Skills Champion category, said: "Jake is a truly inspirational young Engineer who has achieved so much already in his career and can look forward to an extremely successful career in this exciting, constantly-evolving industry."

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