Young Engineers and Science Clubs Scotland has joined a UK-wide programme targeting “hard to reach” schools in a bid to enthuse more young people about science and engineering.

Launched at the Association for Science Education conference in Nottingham last week, Tomorrow’s Engineers will support hands-on engineering activities for 30,000 children and young people aged five to 19 throughout this year.

The programme is being launched by EngineeringUK, the Royal Academy of Engineering and The Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust; it is also supported by Airbus, E-ON, the IET and Thales. The partnership will bring together projects already provided by organisations such as Young Engineers and Science Clubs Scotland and the Smallpeice Trust, and provide them with funding, services, communications and administrative support.

Paul Jackson, chief executive of Engineering UK, said: “We hope the Tomorrow’s Engineers partnership will inspire the next generation of engineers in 2010 and beyond.”