Two apprentices studying at the University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre (www.amrctraining.co.uk) have returned from a tour of Boeing’s ‘state of the art’ factories in the USA.

Mary Stickland and Craig Horton, who are both from Rotherham, earned the opportunity to spend eight days in Oregon and Washington by winning the Siddall Achievement Award in March 2019.

The prize was donated by retired Silicon Valley CEO Graham Siddall, who attributes his successful career in precision engineering and semiconductor technology to the skills he learned as a young apprentice.

Mary and Craig (plus Gareth Wilkinson, skills manager at the AMRC Training Centre) began their trip by visiting the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, where the 737 family of aircraft is built, followed by a tour of Boeing’s Composite Wing Center in nearby Everett.

At the University of Washington campus in Seattle, there were visits to the College of Engineering and the Boeing Advanced Research Center, where the company’s instructors work with faculty staff and students on joint research projects.

The week-long stay concluded with a tour of the Boeing factory in Portland, Oregon, and the chance to sit in a Concorde during a tour of the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

James Needham, senior operations manager at Boeing Sheffield (www.boeing.com), said: “Taking UK apprentices to Boeing’s factories in the USA — to see where the parts they build will be used — builds connections, broadens horizons and makes a difference in how they approach what they do.”