Whitworth Scholarships

1868 First proposed by Joseph Whitworth

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Whitworth Scholarships

..... Whitworth presented a memorandum setting out in detail the requirements of the Competition and the Awards for the year 1868. The first competition included examination in. Mathematics, Mechanics, Physics and Chemistry, including Metallurgy, and in the following handicrafts:—Smiths'-work; turning; filing and fitting; pattern making and moulding. No candidate would be awarded the Scholarship who had not shown satisfactory knowledge in elementary mathematics and mechanics, practical plane and descriptive geometry and freehand drawing, with the power to use one or more of the following classes of tools:— the axe; the saw and plane; the hammer and chisel; the file; the forge.

In 1873 Whitworth submitted a memorandum stating that the experience of past competitions had proved to him the necessity for establishing rules to ensure the holders of the Scholarships should devote themselves to the studies and practice necessary for mechanical engineering during tenure of the Scholarships. To this end he proposed that every candidate for Scholarship should produce a certificate that he had worked in a mechanical engineer's shop for two years consecutively, that the examination in smiths' work, turning, filing and fitting, pattern making and moulding should continue, that each holder should be required to produce satisfactory evidence at the termination of each year that he made proper advances in the sciences and practical engineering by going up for further examination, similar to that prescribed for the competition. The Scholarships might be held for three years but could be withdrawn at the end of each year if the scholar had not made satisfactory progress.

From 1923 onwards the Exhibitions were discontinued and there were offered for competition each year two Whitworth Senior Scholarships of an annual value of £250 each tenable for two years, and six Whitworth Scholarships of the annual value of £125 each tenable for three years. In addition twenty-five Whitworth Prizes of the value of £10 each were awarded to the unsuccessful competitors for Whitworth Scholarships whose work deserved recognition.

In their final form, the Regulations for Whitworth Scholarships provided for five Scholarships values at £200 per year tenable for three years together with prizes valued at £20 and not exceeding ten in number to unsuccessful competitors for Whitworth Scholarships whose work deserved recognition.

A candidate must not have been a full-time student, that is his education since leaving school must have been limited to instruction, at evening classes and to day classes from which he had been released from employment for not more than 600 hours in any year. He must also have been engaged as an apprentice or learner in an engineering works for not less than two years.

The award of a Scholarship was based on a written examination consisting of five papers, two of which must be taken by all candidates, namely Mathematics I and Applied Mechanics I, and any three of the following— Machine Construction and Drawing or Naval Architecture: Workshop Technology: Heat Engines, or Electrical Engineering: Mathematics II (more advanced): Applied Mechanics II (more advanced).

The examiners were expected to attach special importance to fundamental principles and they expected candidates to be able to show their knowledge of principles by their ability to answer questions on experimental methods, illustrate them and to work numerical examples.

Two Whitworth Senior Scholarships valued at £325 per year were awarded on the basis of a thesis dealing with a subject taken from a list published by the Ministry each year. The subjects for the competition in 1955 were - Design for bulk manufacture - an example: Aero Structures: District heating and power generation: Measurement of strain: Developments in metal forming processes: Vibrations in mechanisms and structures: Automatic control of machine tools: Fuel economy in industry: "There is always a better way": Chemical engineering plant. The candidate might also be called upon to appear for an interview before the examining body.

Candidates for Whitworth Senior Scholarships had to be in the possession of an Engineering Degree or Higher National Certificate.

In the event of a successful candidate not having previously had the practical qualifications laid down for Whitworth candidates he was required to enter an engineering works for twelve months' practical experience prior to taking up the award.

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