The Isle of Man final of the Shell Step Student Scheme took place at the International Business School last Friday on 28th August 2009.
The DTI-sponsored scheme provides undergraduate applicants with a placement at a local firm during their summer holiday.
They are tasked with a project that it is hoped, upon completion by the undergraduate, will add some considerable value to the company’s operations.
This year, eighteen students participated in the scheme, fifteen of whom went on to present their projects at the final.
The judges, Helen Cowley of Paradigm Consultants and Maree Bashforth of Renewable Energy Holdings, had tough decisions to make due to the high standard of the entries.
Judges' Commendations went to Charlotte Quirk, based at DOLGE Waste Management Unit and Aimee Kitching at Douglas Development Partnership .
The Best Presentation prize was awarded to Jason Orr for his placement at GE Aviation.
The 2009 Runner Up was awarded to Laura Gill based at Athol Garage for her marketing project.
Finally, the winner of the Most Enterprising Student 2009 went to Michael Dodge for his outstanding engineering project for Strix.
Michael, currently studying for a Masters in Engineering at Leicester University, was tasked to evaluate and test current products in the steam cleaning market, and based on his findings; design, build and comparative test an improved model.
This objective was achieved, through the design and construction of the model, with his findings being recorded in a comprehensive report for Strix.
As a result, the model was demonstrated to one of Strix’s UK-Brand customers in a new production presentation last week.
Nick Gibbs, Michael’s mentor at Strix said, “Our impression of Mike has been excellent and we are very pleased Mike won because of the obvious effort he has put into this project.
"This is Strix’s first sponsorship of a student on the Shell STEP programme. We have collectively been very impressed with Mike and with the way that he has approached, executed and delivered the project.”
Unfortunately, Mike cannot represent the Island in the UK competition so runner up, Laura Gill, will travel to Leeds with the DTI Shell Step team to compete on 1st October for the Most Enterprising Student (North England category).
David Cretney MHK, Minister for the DTI said, "I would like to offer my congratulations to Michael on being awarded the Most Enterprising Student 2009, a most worthy winner, and also to Laura Gill for winning the runner up prize.
"I enjoyed the event on Friday immensely. The department and myself are passionate about supporting local undergraduates in securing the best possible future for themselves, and in doing so, we hope to have demonstrated the diversity of opportunities available to them, on the Island.
"Many thanks to Laura for agreeing to represent the Island in the North England final, and of course we wish her the best of luck!”
