Learn more about the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers

The Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers

Moving forward, giving back

  • Welcome to our Company

    We are a charitable community of makers and users of scientific instruments who include scientists, engineers, academics and students.

  • Charitable and Educational Trust

    Our education and charitable trust has been built up over the years through regular donations from Liverymen and from generous endowments.

  • Moving forward, giving back

    We have a thriving apprenticeship programme and we also support post graduates and post doctoral students.

  • A very social livery company

    Our members get together to share knowledge and experience; influence opinion; and enjoy good fellowship.

Welcome to the home of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers

Featured pages from across the site

A message from the Master

Let me, as Master, give you a very warm welcome to the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers. I am delighted that are visiting this website.

Come and meet us

We are recruiting members so if you are involved in design and construction of instrumentation or commission projects that rely on instrumentation, we would welcome you to one of our evenings.

Our Livery Year

The Livery year starts in late October with the Admission Court. At this Court meeting the new Master, Senior and Junior Wardens are installed into their offices.

Grants and Awards

As a relatively ‘young’ company (in City terms) we have been fortunate over the years to receive generous donations from Liverymen and legacies from deceased members which form the bulk of our funds. However the need for philanthropy is as strong today as it ever has been and we welcome contributions however large or small. Potential members should note that there is an expectation that members will donate annually a minimum of £75 through gift aid.

Read more about Grants and Awards

News from the Company

Testimonials

A selection of quotes from Scholars, Apprentices, Freemen and Liverymen.

I became part of the company when I was young and unsure of my career direction, at the time the company informed and guided me. Six years on this is still the case today, and I also benefit from the great contacts I develop at events and dinners. The company enabled me to find out first hand what it was like to be at different stages of an engineering career, this helped me decide what to study at university and what career path I was best suited to.
Freeman Daniel Orford
My Arkwright grant funded a residential Maths camp and, at an engineering taster day at Cambridge, I learned about the mechanics behind the ‘chain fountain’ phenomenon. An Arkwright visit to a company called TTP opened my eyes to the possibility of working as a researcher in industry. Through WCSIM I also attended a fascinating lecture on the science of invisibility by Professor John Pendry, which covered the topic of meta-materials with negative refractive index, encouraging me to explore this area further.
Apprentice Jo Warren

I must thank the livery for their support; they have had a great influence on me. I would definitely not be here without their help. As an Arkwright scholar, who joined as an apprentice at sixteen, the livery opened my eyes to what was possible and what kind of work its members did. I remember coming away from events and dinners, fizzing with excitement about having met the guardian of the kilogram, or the designer of large telescope electronics, or a researcher who works at a particle accelerator. I would have never thought those jobs existed before! It is this atmosphere that has made the livery such an important place for young scientists and engineers. I hope to contribute and give others the same opportunity I have had.

Freeman Teddy Szemberg O’Connor
Moving forward, giving back
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