A CAA scholarship for aviation maintenance trainees has been launched in the UK. It will be open to final year students working with CAA approved organisations. It will include a place on the CAA's UK airworthiness course and placements with specialist departments.\rThe scholarships were announced at a Royal Aeronautical Society conference in London by Sir Malcolm Field, chairman of the CAA. "No one can deny that in the UK we face a serious shortage of maintenance and engineering staff," he said, referring to last October's report by the UK government which showed a possible shortfall of 23 per cent in 2001. "If this is not rectified then the effects will cut right to the core of our aviation businesses," Field concluded.