Water & Wastewater Treatment

www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | APRIL 2016 | 25 In the know Greater collaboration is key to attracting new en- trants into the utilities sector to combat potentially cata- strophic skills shortages, ac- cording to leading experts at the Industry Skills Forum. The forum, organised by Develop Training, heard that despite technological change, engineering and construction careers are still seen as unglamorous and suffer from a bias among young people against roles that are perceived as low status or manual labour. Forum chair, Chris Wood, CEO of Develop Training, said: "Over the last few decades vocational training and apprenticeships have gone out of fashion, as students have been largely pushed towards an academic route RESEARCH ROUND UP Collaboration key to avoid 'catastrophic' skills shortages via universities. As student loans and debt becomes more of an issue, there is a great opportunity for the industry to promote a different career path, which offers the chance to earn as you learn. The utilities sector has good job security, as there's always a need to flush the toilet and turn the light on. Let's work together to really make a change – engage school students early to promote the industry as an exciting long-term career option." During the forum, utilities experts agreed that the industry needs to invest in better promoting itself in order to attract the next generation. This means far greater collaboration with the education system and engaging students via work RISING UP Professor Tony Conway, former Innovation Director at United Utilities, has joined British Water's governing board. Professor Conway is a Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield Water Centre, and acts as a consultant to a range of organisations operating in the water industry in the UK and around the world. Meanwhile, British Water has also confirmed that chief executive Ashley Roe is to stand down for personal reasons. Roe, who has led the supply chain organisation for two years, will be replaced by Lloyd Martin, chairman of the British Water International Forum and Strategic Counsel at Bluewater Bio, on an interim basis. Dee Valley Water has appointed Clare Evans as its new Customer Challenge Group (CCG) Independent Chair. She succeeds Diane McCrea, who le the panel in January 2016. Evans, who has been involved with the Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) for the last seven years, has been appointed until the conclusion of the company's 2015- 2020 business plan. Anglian Water has appointed Jeff Halliwell as the independent Chairman of its Customer Engagement Forum (CEF). Halliwell, who has held a number of executive and non-executive director positions in a range of industries, was most recently at the helm of transport consumer watchdog Transport Focus. He takes over with immediate effect from previous Chairman Professor Bernard Crump, who will remain a member of the Forum. experience, so they can witness first-hand all that the industry has to offer. Brian Jobe, head of Meter Operations at Siemens, said: "Unfortunately, when employers such as ourselves try to attract new recruits there is very little take- up. The forum highlighted the need for companies to collaborate and perhaps host joint careers fairs, similar to those run by the Armed Forces. This could be one way to solve the recruitment issue compared with the current situation of everyone fishing in the same pool, driving up salaries and competition, which in turn creates large staff turnover wasting valuable HR resources." Attendees at the forum included John Cowell, Resource & Development manager at Balfour Beatty; Paul Lewis, Training Delivery manager at SGN; Brian Jobe; Stuart Harrison, Business Development director at Servelec Controls; and Richard Shore, managing director at Mentor Training. ● 27 Innovation Zone: Syrinix PipeMinder ● 29 Research Notes: The Twenty65 project ● 33 Digging Deeper: Aerobic treatment ● 35 Products: Tanks 21 Apr Water Ireland conference, Dublin. 27 Apr WRc Innovation day, Swindon. 28 Apr WWT Asset Management conference, Birmingham. 17-18 May Utility Week Live, NEC, Birmingham. COmING UP Cranfield University has received the Queen's An- niversary Prize for Higher and Further Education from The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, in recognition of its educa- tion and research on water and sanitation for devel- oping countries over a 25- year period. The event at Buckingham Palace was at- tended by Cranfield's Chan- cellor, Baroness Young of Old Scone; the University's Chief Executive and Vice- Chancellor, Sir Peter Greg- son; and Pro-Vice-Chancel- lor, Energy, Environmental Technology and Agrifood, Professor Simon Pollard. One of the projects acknowledged in the citation for the award was the innovative Nano Membrane Toilet which the university has pioneered in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Last year, four members of the Nano Membrane Toilet team travelled to Ghana to understand potential users' views and ideas about the toilet's design and development, and the university hopes to bring it to Africa for trials soon. The award also recognised the work of WSUP (Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor). Cranfield University was one of the organisation's founders, and it is estimated that, to date, it has helped provide over one million people with clean drinking water, and some 400,000 with improved sanitation. The Queen's Anniversary Prizes are awarded every two years to universities and colleges for applied research shown to be producing practical benefits for ordinary people. They are the UK's most prestigious form of national recognition open to a UK academic or vocational institution. It is the fourth time Cranfield has picked up one of the prizes. Cranfield honoured by palace for developing world water work

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