Awards reflect LEEA's global reach

Winners announced at the association's AGM at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford last month included engineers from as far afield as Egypt.

The LEEA's long-established Diploma is designed to prepare engineers for the theoretical aspects of thorough examination of lifting equipment. Awards are presented every year to those students presenting the best papers and securing the highest marks.

The full line up of winners for 2008 is Mr Mahmoud Mohamed Fahmy of Lloyds British Testing, and Mr Ibrahim Hamdy Ibrahim and Mr Ahmed Sherify Elzeny, both from Bureau Veritas in Egypt, who took the Gordon Loveridge Memorial Prize for securing 100% in the Part 1 Examination.

Winners of the Cyril McCaulley Memorial Prizes for best papers in a specialised subject were Mr Mark Pinchbeck of Carl Stahl Evita, Mr Paul Hornby of Associated Utility Supplies, Mr Andrew Wright of Morris Material Handling, and Mr Mark James of Corus Distribution and Building Systems. Andrew Wright also received the Harry Brown Memorial Shield for best overall paper in a specialised subject.

Mark James (right), of Corus Distribution and Building Systems.

"Access to the distance learning course that supports the Diploma examination is one of the key benefits of membership," said Geoff Holden, chief executive designate of the LEEA. "In the past few years we have seen a really strong growth in interest from companies based outside the UK, and these now represent more than half of our total membership. The latest awards certainly demonstrate the global nature of our organisation, and the commitment and quality of our students worldwide."

To help support its increasingly international membership, the LEEA recently launched an online training portal, providing students with greater flexibility than a conventional correspondence course format. Assignments are delivered, marked and returned online, with no delay between the completion of one module and the availability of the next. Ultimately the system will incorporate instant on-line marking and a rolling course schedule, replacing the current, fixed, 20-week cycle.