Niftylift’s apprentice team, Elevation Nation, have won the 2025 IMechE Apprentice Automation Challenge, their second consecutive win at this prestigious event.
The finals of this years competition saw apprentices teams take part in the Apprentice Automation Challenge finals, held at the held at the prestigious Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.
Held annually and now in its eleventh year, this engineering competition has been steadily growing in popularity, with a record 17 apprentice teams joining to demonstrate a wide variety of products and a high level of quality and professionalism in their work.
While judging was close, the judges ultimately crowned the apprentices from team Elevation Nation at Niftylift the 2025 champions, who retain the title for the second year in a row.
“The winning team significantly impressed with their presentation skills,” explain Toby Heagarty, Chief Judge. “The prototype they developed showed iteration over time into their final product and the significant amount of research they had done into the market was a key factor in the judges’ decision.”
The Seven Seeds team from Leonardo earned the coveted Peer Review award, voted for by their fellow teams at the finals, while Thales’ Mech Me Up Before You Go Go secured The Manufacturer’s Most Commended award.
Now in its eleventh year, the Apprentice Automation Challenge tasks apprentice engineers to design and build a prototype device that automates a common product or process and is open to those in both industry and academia.
Participants are encouraged to develop their existing skills and knowledge to as part of the process to take their ideas and make them a reality, alongside writing a full design and business report that mirrors the same requirements found in industry.
The finals event provides teams with the opportunity to present their work for evaluation and scoring by a panel of judges, often engineers in industry. These include both formal presentations of their product documentation, alongside a proper demonstration of their prototype devices.
This included a design specification document, manufacturing process, a user-friendly manual, and a business case for the production, marketing and sale of their proposed product.
With requirements and ruleset that are as close to the real world as possible, the Challenge enables young engineers to gain valuable skills and experience of working as a team on an engineering project that are important as they move into graduate roles in industry.
Overseeing the product demonstrations this year were Deputy Lord Mayor and Mayoress for Coventry Roger and Pauline Bailey, who were delighted to see what the apprentices have been working on over the past months.
“It’s been totally fantastic not just seeing the products but talking to people and understanding the enthusiasm and dedication to what they are doing,” said Deputy Lord Mayor Roger Bailey, “Every single thing we’ve seen so far has a practical use and could go on to not just make money but to help people. It’s nice to see a project from design to finish and that’s something you don’t often get to see.”
“One of the great things [the Challenge] is doing is bringing people together who work together and communicating together and that is important in itself, “ he continued. “The skills they’ve gained by working as a team and learning new things they’ve never done before opens up a whole range of possibilities, and I hope that the companies that some of these people work for see the future of these products and put them to market, as every single one has a market!”
“Engineering is part of our future, it’s the foundation of our evolution and the way we move forward and without it, we’re not going anywhere. What people are doing today and the skills they are gaining today are important for all our futures.”
This year’s winning team will go home from Coventry finals with a prize of £2,000 for their work and will go on to exhibit their work at next year’s Smart Manufacturing and Engineering Week, organised by The Manufacturer.