Born in 1946 and brought up in Cupar, Fife, I was educated at the local school - 
by Jamie Buchan, Press & Journal
Teams of bright sparks from schools across the north-east battled it out yesterday in a contest aimed at wooing more students into engineering.
Pupils from Banff and Turriff went head to head in the final round of Banff and Buchan College's Schools Engineering Challenge. The contest was organised by the world's largest multinational oilfield services corporation, Schlumberger.
The company teamed up with the Fraserburgh-based college last year to try and get more students interested in engineering.
Around 750 pupils from Banff, Turriff, Meldrum and Mintlaw took part in the contest.
Turriff Academy pupils Michael Gray and Kay Sheach triumphed at yesterday's contest, beating off rival team-mates Martin Buchan and Megan Jones from Banff.
Both teams had to complete a series of practical engineering tasks within a set time.
The winners were awarded a laptop each and the runners-up were presented with a video iPod each.
The final was opened by local MSP Stewart Stevenson.
He said last night: "I hope that this event will encourage young people to go into engineering and a good base for doing that is Banff and Buchan College as we can be assured that they can achieve there the qualifications they need.
"This is a great endorsement of the college from one of the leading companies engaged in the North Sea and a very worthwhile experience for those pupils taking part in the challenge."
Schlumberger recruitment manager Stephen Patterson added: "We hope this competition provides both pupils and teachers with an insight into engineering and the oil industry."
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Karen Adam is now the MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast
