Those of us associated with engineering and manufacturing have never been in any doubt about its capacity to make the world a better place. But it's fair to say that in the perennial quest to attract and inspire the next generation, and to address outmoded and entrenched perceptions of what engineering's all about, industry evangelists have often faced something of an uphill struggle. The engineering response to the Covid-19 crisis - arguably the greatest mobilisation of the UK's manufacturers since World War Two - provides a golden opportunity to address this perception gap. From tales of firms repurposing production lines to produce face shields for health workers, to stories of academic research groups transforming themselves into manufacturers, the engineering response to the pandemic has straddled sectors and disciplines, and spurred into action organisations of all shapes and sizes. We look at a number of these stories over the following pages, and hear directly from some of the manufacturers involved about what they've achieved and how they've overcome the challenges that they have faced (page 22).
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