Heatrae Sadia has launched a new competition designed to celebrate the talents of UK engineering and product design.

The inaugural Heatrae Sadia Design Awards offers university students the chance to win full finance for the final year of their degree, up to the value of £10,000. Students will need to design a new problem-solving product in electric water heating that demonstrates innovative design and functionality, and supply supporting sketches, plans and 3D models or prototypes.

The new awards scheme will give participating students the opportunity to get hands-on experience with Heatrae Sadia, with a view to encouraging more young people into the industry.

Alongside the financial prize, the winner, plus four runners-up, will receive a 3D-printed model of their design, a full tour of the Heatrae Sadia factory including product development presentations and a Q&A session.

Richard Newman, senior product manager at Heatrae Sadia, said: “We recognise the value that young people can bring to our industry, and these awards are a way of engaging with the next generation of engineers in order to help them take the first steps into a long and successful career.

“This competition offers participants real industry experience and guidance from our experts, which we believe is just as valuable as the financial grand prize. We look forward to receiving the submissions, and wish all entrants the very best of luck.”

Entries are open now and the deadline is 15 May 2017, after which the judges will announce their top five projects before the winner is announced in July 2017.

Students can enter the competition by submitting their projects to designawards@heatraesadia.com. For a full brief and competition terms and conditions please visit the Heatrae Sadia website.