Legacy funds unite to support future engineering talent

IGEM’s North West Section has received a significant boost as the remaining funds of the Yorkshire Gas Association’s Ralph Halkett Fellowship have been formally transferred to the Section’s Fred Johnson Fund, now renamed The Gas Association Fund.

The decision was reached unanimously at the recent Yorkshire Gas Association (YGA) Extraordinary General Meeting. The transfer marks a moment of collaboration between two long-standing regional associations, both with a rich history of supporting early-career professionals in the gas industry.

The original Ralph Halkett Fellowship has enabled 18 members to travel internationally to learn from global gas operations, returning to share their knowledge and raise professional standards across the sector. The newly combined fund will continue that legacy by supporting an additional prize for the IGEM North West YPPC, helping to champion the next generation of gas engineers.

Pictured at the handover is North West Section Chair, Mumtaz Patel FIGEM CEng MIMechE MSc, accepting the cheque on behalf of the Section.

Alongside the announcement, members also gathered for a North West Section Lunch and Learn, where Tim Roff CEng MICE FIGEM delivered an insightful presentation on the energy transition, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and the engineering behind United Infrastructure’s 60km onshore CCS pipeline currently under development in the North West.