TDI Challenge 2025- Winners Announced!‌   ­‌   ­‌   ­‌

MTA TDI CHALLENGE – FUTURE ENGINEERS SHOWCASE PROJECTS IN OUR BIGGEST FINALS DAY YET!

The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) held its biggest finals day yet for the Technology, Design and Innovation (TDI) Challenge 2025.

Organised by MTA, this year’s event has grown larger than ever, featuring over 20 finalists presenting their innovative projects to an esteemed panel of 9 judges.This year’s TDI Challenge was, once again, hosted at Yamazaki Mazak at its state-of-the-art European Headquarters in Worcester. Mazak, a major manufacturing in our sector, provided participants with an exclusive tour of its factory and European Technology Centre, showcasing UK based manufacturing and opportunities in our sector to the next generation of engineers.The TDI Challenge 2025 is generously sponsored by the Gene Haas Foundation, Vision West Nottinghamshire College, and Imagineering, who are all leaders in our industry. Andrew Ward, representing the Gene Haas Foundation and serving as one of the judges, said “This our second full year sponsoring the TDI challenge we absolutely delighted this year to so many competitors and congratulations to the winners. The TDI Challenge is an opportunity to help young people to develop their engineering skills, design skills and technology skills. On behalf of the Gene Haas foundation, we very much look forward to participating in future events”.James Selka, CEO of the MTA, expressed his enthusiasm for the event’s growth and impact. “The TDI Challenge is not only growing, it ist hriving! I extend my heartfelt thanks to the MTA Team and our sponsors for their unwavering support. This event exemplifies how the industry can come together to shape the future of the manufacturing sector.

Despite the rapid growth of the UK industry, there is a concerning decline in the number of young engineers. They are our future and having some of the biggest names in the industry judge their projects is an honour for both MTA and the students.”The TDI Challenge 2025 was open to students aged 14-19, providing a unique opportunity to showcase their creativity and innovation.

Participants were invited to submit a design for a new product or concept and a two-minute video demonstrating its application and benefits. Finalists were chosen from the video entries submitted by the end of May 2025 and from two live regional events held at UTC Derby Pride Park & Silverstone UTC. The finalists were invited to presenttheir ideas in detail at the finals event, where the winners were announced.The MTA’s Education & Skills Manager, Danny Reed said, “I am thrilled to see so many students, teachers and parents from all over the UK engaged in the challenge and supporting the manufacturing and technology sector. This year’s competition showcased the biggest number of entries we’ve ever seen and it encouraging to see so many young engineers excited by our ever-growing sector.“The TDI Challenge not only showcases student creativity but also emphasises the vital role of collaboration between industry and education in tackling future challenges and opportunities. This year’s event welcomes back former winners from 2023 and 2024, now serving as judges, who will share their inspiring experiences and the influence the challenge has had on their career paths”.Indigo Wernick from Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern a former TDI Challenge winner from 2024 returned to join the judging panel for this year’s competition said, “being able to judge a competition that means the world to me as a previous winner was such an incredible experience.

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners, it’s brilliant to witness such talent and innovation amongst our generation.”The winners of the TDI Challenge 2025 are: Key Stage 4 Winner: Nia Wood Project: Signal Cycle School/College: Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern Prize: £500 for student – £1000 for School/College 2ND PLACE: Carys Hern Project: Smart Sort School/College: Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern Prize: £500 for student – £900 for School/College 3RD PLACE: Connie Lloyd Project: Sensory Cube School/College: UTC Pride Park Derby Prize: £300 for student – £800 for School/College Key Stage 5 Winner: Pacha Pritchard Project: Time & Tide School/College: Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern Prize: £500 for student – £1000 for School/College 2ND PLACE: Jack Lockyer Project: Smart Cones School/College: Nottingham High School Prize: £400 for student – £900 for School/College3RD PLACE: Daniel Dzaptar Project: Hub Pump School/College: Forth Valley College Prize: £300 for student – £800 for School/College. For more information, visit www.thetdichallenge.co.uk

ABOUT THE MTA: ­

The Manufacturing Technologies Association is the UK’s trade association for companies in the manufacturing technology sector. MTA members design, manufacture and supply the advanced machinery, equipment and intellectual property that enable the creation of the products we rely on from day to day and that drive our economy.Key aspects of manufacturing technology include; machine tools, cutting tools, metrology (measuring) equipment, additive manufacturing (3D printing), surface finishing, robotics and computer aided design and manufacturing products (CAD/CAM), as well as the technology which is enabling the digitisation of manufacturing – the fourth industrial revolution. These combine to make up complete systems - increasingly automated and adaptive - that manufacturers deploy, making the sector fundamental to the prosperity, health and defence of the nation.The MTA delivers: marketing support and networking opportunities; specific and relevant economic and technical information; representation to Government and other stakeholders; help for exporters; and support for learning and development within member companies and beyond.The MTA owns and runs MACH, the UK’s premier event to showcase manufacturing technologies. The biennial exhibition, held at the NEC, attracts over 25,000 visitors, over 600 exhibitors and the last edition, MACH 2024, saw over £200,000,000 of business attributed to it.Established in 1919 the MTA has been at the core of the UK’s engineering based manufacturing economy for over a century.The MTA has broadened the range of its support to the sector with the formation of a new cluster of trade associations which now includes the Engineering Industries Association (EIA) and Additive Manufacturing UK (AMUK).For more information on MTA visit www.mta.org.uk