Celebrating student success at Industrial Cadets Gold Awards
The student teams, sponsored and mentored by SUEZ as part of the Gold Industrial Cadets programme, were recognised for their impressive sustainability focused projects exploring wind and solar energy. The two Consett Academy teams won: ‘Best Teamwork’ Award and ‘Project of the Year’ Award.
The celebration event brings together schools and industry partners from across the North East, showcasing the results of a real-world engineering project - Inspired by its Patron, His Majesty, King Charles III in Teesside, Industrial Cadets is a widely recognised, accredited awards scheme increasing diversity and inspiring young people through industry-based experiences to become part of the workforce of the future.
Alongside the student wins, Amber Nixon from SUEZ and Mrs Collins from Consett Academy were presented with the programme’s first ever ‘Mentor of the Year’ and ‘Teacher of the Year’ awards – in recognition of their commitment to guiding and supporting students through the challenging and rewarding programme.
SUEZ has supported students from Consett Academy through the Industrial Cadets Gold programme for the past five years and reflects SUEZ’s broader commitment to promoting green skills and promoting careers in sustainability, engineering and the circular economy.
Amber Nixon, Senior Technical Plant Engineer at SUEZ said: “It’s fantastic to see the hard work of the students recognised at such a high level – they’ve done an outstanding job. It’s been brilliant to watch these students grow in confidence and capability over the programme. Their energy solutions showed real innovation and teamwork. Supporting green skills and future careers is a key part of our mission, and we’re also proud to have built such a strong partnership with Consett Academy over the years, and we hope to continue supporting future engineers well into 2026 and beyond.”
Mrs Collins, Sixth Form Year Manager at Consett Academy, added: “Our students gained so much from this experience – not just technical knowledge but confidence, professionalism and real insight into what a career in engineering could look like. As an Academy we highly value the Industrial Cadets Gold programme, an extracurricular opportunity for young people to develop key workplace skills including teamwork, verbal presenting, independent research and professional writing. The support from SUEZ has been fantastic, and the accolades received are testament to how well that partnership works. We look forward to building upon our partnership with SUEZ throughout 2026 and welcoming the next generation of Gold Cadet Graduates.”
SUEZ looks forward to continuing its support for future cohorts and inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders and engineers.