Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), the electricity network company, has awarded two top electrical engineering students a Scholarship worth £24,000 each.

Daniel Robinson and Mark Lindsay are the first students to benefit from the NIE Electrical Engineering Scholarship Programme, which is being run in conjunction with Queen’s University Belfast.

The Scholarship is open to first year electrical engineering students and includes an annual bursary and a book allowance every year and payment towards university fees. It also includes paid summer placements and a one year training experience with NIE.

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Speaking at the event at Queen’s University Belfast, Gordon Parkes, Human Resources Director at NIE said: "There is a significant shortage of electrical engineering graduates and these skills will be in big demand into the future. NIE has struggled to recruit the appropriate numbers of graduates in the past so we took a decision to sponsor our own students. I’d like to congratulate Daniel and Mark in achieving the NIE Scholarship particularly as they came through a thorough selection process.

"The NIE Scholarship programme will provide these students with excellent experience working on real engineering projects as they study for their degree. From day one they will be mentored by a professional electrical engineer who will ensure that their classroom learning is complimented by the appropriate practical experience. Electrical engineering is an interesting and challenging career that offers continuing career development and opportunity. NIE has recognised that in order to attract the best possible engineers we need to be working closely with our local universities in order to generate interest and develop graduates at an early point in their career."

(CD)