A chance meeting with the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) co-founder Adrian Allen proved to be a fortunate encounter for a Doncaster 18-year-old — he is now an apprentice engineer sponsored by one of the world’s largest industrial trade shows.

Sean Delaney, employed by the AMRC’s Advanced Structural Testing Centre (ASTC) as an apprentice test technician (www.amrc.co.uk), has now started his advanced apprenticeship at the AMRC Training Centre and is being supported by the USA-based International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS).

He says that, had it not been for the chance meeting with Mr Allen — the machine tool entrepreneur who helped set up the hugely successful University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Professor Keith Ridgway and Boeing — he would not be where he is now, on track to becoming a future engineer.

Sean explained: “I only discovered the AMRC Training Centre after meeting Adrian in a pub.

“He invited me to come for a tour of the AMRC, and I took him up on the offer.

“I came away thinking how much I would like to work there.”

Through Adrian’s long-standing relationship with the US-based Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), which owns and organises IMTS, Sean was offered an apprenticeship sponsored by the organisation.

As part of his sponsorship, Sean will be posting a weekly blog on what he is learning; this will be published on the IMTS web site and across its social-media channels.

Sean says the blog will be good preparation for when he travels to Chicago next year to give a speech about his apprenticeship to guests attending IMTS 2020.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity, and I’m very excited for what the future holds. I definitely intend to go as far as I possibly can both in terms of career and education.”