CRAFTSMANSHIP

The Craftsmanship Award, with a prize fund of £1500, is awarded annually for an exceptional contribution to engineering craft skills. This may be a technical advance in the craft, a contribution to an employer’s objectives by applying craft skills, or an innovative application of high quality craft skills, or other demonstration of craft excellence. Candidates, who may submit jointly with a colleague or colleagues, must:

Be a craftsman, male or female, most likely over the age of 25 for the experience expected
be employed in engineering, manufacturing or advanced technology
live or work in the West of Scotland
demonstrate their service in their chosen craft
explain the exceptional contribution they have made in the application of craft skills
secure endorsement of their application by a senior manager or director of their employer.

Note, the prize was initially made primarily for metalworking, but is now open to all engineering or technology related craft skills, in all sectors of the engineering industry, including digital technology.

Previous winners include :

1987 – David Mackay Brown, Gunsmith
1989 – David Bell, Goldsmith
1991 – John Creed, Metalwork
1993 – Alan Clark, Metalwork (reproduction armour)
1995 – Elspeth Bennie, Metalwork
1998 – Michael Douglas, Metalwork
2001 – Steve Payne, Ironhorse Studios
2004 – Harry Conroy, Weir Pumps
2005 – Alan Mileham, Rolls Royce
2006 – William Palmer, Castle Precision Engineering
2007 – Thomas (Tommy) Blaney, Rolls Royce
2008 – Iain Carrie, Thales Optronics
2009 – Graham Miller, Archibald Young
2011 – Dougie McMillan, Rolls Royce
2013 – Crawford McKechnie and Malcolm MacPherson, BAE Systems
2014 – Alan Moffat, Howden Process Compressors

The scheme was re-launched in 2017. Gordon Masterton was Convener of the Craftsmanship Awards Sub Committee and managed the competition this year and two winners were awarded prizes of £500. The winners were Dr Andrew Greer of University of Glasgow who invented a high precision commercially viable 3d printer and Michael Martin for casting properties in a local foundry company, Archibald Young & Co.