Saskia Verkaik, winner of the Society of Public Health Engineers (SoPHE) Young Engineers Awards, and Harry Robbiati, runner-up, have won a trip to Ghana with charity Village by Village, which collaborated on the Awards, to help with a real, onsite project.
This prize was made possible by the generosity of all table sponsors and the following SoPHE Industrial Associates: support from SoPHE Industrial Associates: Geberit; Teekay Couplings; Stormsaver; Grundfos; Polypipe Building Services; European Vacuum Drainage Systems; Aquilar; Horne Engineering; Hydrotec (UK); and JA Brooks Mechanical Services.
The awards were based on the performance of entrants at the SoPHE YEN/Plumbing Centre of Excellence Annual Plumbing Competition, held at London South Bank Technical College earlier this year. SoPHE YEN competed with college learners in hands-on and fault-finding activities, with the aim of bridging the gap in students’ learning from domestic to commercial installations. Third place was won by Raveena Carahaa, with Juliana Santos highly commended.
The awards were presented at the 21st SoPHE Annual Dinner, which took place last month in London and brought together more than 300 public health engineering professionals. Michael Darvill was also awarded a SoPHE Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his involvement with the society, which spans more than 20 years. He was the first Industry Working Group chair and has been lead organiser of the annual dinner since 2018.
The night was also an opportunity for the society to launch its new logo, which encapsulates a drop of water, while symbolising two hands clasped together in partnership.
Attendees raised £2,950 for Village by Village to help with its crucial work. SoPHE would like to thank its Industrial Associates for their continued support and generosity, without which the event would not be possible.