Thirty-six students from Hartlepool College of Further Education, in Stockton Street, displayed the work they had completed for their Higher National Diploma (HND), and Higher National Certificates (HNC) in engineering studies. The event saw company bosses given the opportunity to look at the work with a view to possibly recruiting some of the talented students who have worked tirelessly on the projects.

Michael Casey, head of school for engineering at the college, said he was very proud of all the students, who were all men aged between 18 and over, and their ideas. He said: "The majority of them are work-based projects, which means they will have been tasked to either improve a system at their work placement or maybe manufacture a part or component for work. Some of them came up with other ideas. For example one student had the idea of designing an umbrella handle that warms up to keep your hand warm if you were at a golf tournament or whatever. They're all really good." He added: "It's an opportunity for the students to showcase their projects at the end of the year. It also helps them to be offered apprenticeships and other opportunities, and it was a really good collection of work and they should be very proud of themselves."

Shaun Hope, Head of Skills at the college, who helped organise the exhibition with colleagues, agreed that the students had worked very hard and that the great exhibition was testament to the hard work the students had put in."They have all worked extremely hard and the exhibition has received some excellent feedback on how well they have all done," he said.

View our Flickr Gallery of the Exhibition