BQ2 North East Special Report

SPECIAL REPORT: BUILDING A FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE There’s light at the end of the tunnel for manufacturing BRIDGING THE GAP UTCs play a key role in pushing the STEM agenda STEM BY STEALTH We’re catching pupils young – without them realising!

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Choose Sunderland College We’ve a proven track record of designing and delivering courses and qualifications in a wide range of STEM industries including: Advanced Manufacture & Engineering Digital & Software Development Sustainable Construction, Energy & Utilities Applied Sciences & Heath & Wellbeing To find out more call 0191 511 6000 or email employers@sunderlandcollege.ac.uk

CONTENTS

CONTACTS

04 NEWS

ROOM501 LTD Bryan Hoare Managing Director e: bryan@room501.co.uk

A round-up of the latest events and developments in the sector

EDITORIAL Peter Jackson e: p.jackson77@btinternet.com

08 GENERATION GAME Why tensions between generations must be tackled head-on

DESIGN & PRODUCTION room501 e: studio@room501.co.uk

12 GOOD INVESTMENT College puts its money where its mouth is on STEM teaching

14 FUTURE FOCUS Geoff Ford sees light at the end of the tunnel for manufacturing

20 BRIDGING THE GAP UTCs are playing a crucial role in pushing the STEM agenda

24 A VITAL SPARK Engineering UK boss Paul Jackson on the industry’s importance

26 STEM BY STEALTH How to catch pupils young – and without them realising it!

28 TRAIN TRAINING A centre teaching skills for the rail industry is warmly welcomed

FOCUSING ON A BRIGHTER FUTURE

14 THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

SPECIAL REPORT:

BUILDING A FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

WELCOME Welcome to this BQ2 special report in which we shine the spotlight on the teaching of science, technology, engineering and maths – the so called STEM subjects. These have been neglected to the extent that we are now threatened by a well documented skills gap and a shortage of engineers. This was driven by a growing conviction, in government and among other opinion formers, that the UK’s manufacturing past was firmly behind it and that the future lay in our service industries.

Subsequent events have shown this to have been a dangerous illusion. In the North East, with its proud manufacturing tradition, our scepticism was not enough to save shipbuilding, steel-making or coal mining. Their loss went hand-in-hand with a decline in the numbers of those studying STEM subjects.

Who could blame them? Engineering and manufacturing – they were told – did not offer attractive and lucrative careers. They also had less opportunities, with fewer apprenticeships and colleges being encouraged by the government to close engineering departments.

That has all changed and there is now a concerted effort to increase the numbers of teachers qualified to teach STEM and the number of educational institutions concentrating on the subjects. In this BQ2 we profile a number of these initiatives and feature individuals who have fought so hard to give STEM the status and resources the subjects deserve.

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PHOTOGRAPHY KG Photography e: info@kgphotography.co.uk Nicky Rogerson e: nicky@nrphotography.com SALES Heather Spacey Business Development Manager e: heather@room501.co.uk @Heather_BQ Rachael Laschke Business Development Manager e: rachael@room501.co.uk @Rachael_BQ or call 0191 426 6300

room501 Publishing Ltd, Spectrum 6, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham, SR7 7TT www.bqlive.co.uk Business Quarter (BQ) is a leading business to business brand recognised for celebrating entrepreneurship and corporate success. The multi-platform brand currently reaches entrepreneurs and senior business executives across Scotland, The North East, Yorkshire and the West Midlands. BQ has established a UK wide regional approach to business engagement reaching a highly targeted audience of entrepreneurs and senior executives in high growth businesses both in-print, online and through branded events.

All contents copyright © 2015 room501 Ltd. All rights reserved.

While every effort is made to ensure accuracy, no responsibility can be accepted for inaccuracies, howsoever caused. No liability can be accepted for illustrations, photographs, artwork or advertising materials while in transmission or with the publisher or their agents. All company profiles are paid for advertising. All information is correct at time of going to print, May 2015.

room501 Publishing Ltd is part of BE Group, the UK’s market leading business improvement specialists. www.be-group.co.uk

BQ Magazine is published quarterly by room501 Ltd.

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

NEWS

SPRING 15

Bishop of Durham swaps crosier for plasma, construction firm builds confidence among students, budding metal workers impress shoppers, youngsters get their teeth into new training programme >> Bishop puts his faith in region’s apprentices Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham, swapped crosier for plasma cutter after signing up for an NECC apprenticeship.

The Right Revd Bishop Paul took on the role of engineering apprentice for the day with North East Chamber of Commerce member IK-UK, of Newton Aycliffe, to promote the importance of apprenticeships to North East business. He was soon learning how to work the water jet and plasma cutting machines, manufacturing base plates on a lathe and assembling pipeline pigs, purposebuilt pieces of equipment made from polyurethane and steel and used primarily in the oil and gas industry to clean pipelines.

The pigs are designed and manufactured

by IK-UK, which employs 47 people, including four NECC apprentices. Bishop Paul said: “When I was offered the chance of an apprenticeship by James Ramsbotham [NECC chief executive] I was very keen to try something in engineering. It is a genuine North East industrial strength and something I have always held an interest in, so to have the chance to try my hand at it was an opportunity I could not refuse.“What I will take away from this experience is what an impressive bunch the apprentices are. Given how they are all at such a relatively early stage of their apprenticeship, all have demonstrated a real in-depth knowledge of their various jobs and cope admirably with quite a high level of responsibility.” He was put through his paces at IK-UK by NECC apprentices Jack Pallister, 19, Adam Churm, 20, Jake Robinson, 19, and Andrew Knight, 20.

Jack said: “After my A-Levels I went to college and very quickly found that it was not the environment for me and I was keen to build some work experience. I feel really lucky to have secured an apprenticeship with IK-UK because we get to work closely with the clients and get support from everyone in the business.

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

>> Leading construction company helps students to lay the foundations for a successful career A Newcastle based construction company has teamed up with a Northumberland school to give six students a taste of work.

Galliford Try Partnerships North will work with the students – aged between 16 and 17 – who are studying for a B Tec level 2 in Construction at James Calvert Spence College in Amble.

The placements at the town’s Dandsfield Square development, will enable them to gather information in support of their coursework, while experiencing life on a building site.

Stephen Thompson, head of faculty at James Calvert Spence College, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for our students, who will no doubt gain much experience from the placements.

“Galliford Try already hosted a half day visit which helped them to build on their knowledge and understanding of how a building evolves during the construction process. This experience proved invaluable when questions about this appeared on a recent exam paper.

“We hope that this link-up will continue and thrive, proving beneficial to both us as education providers and Galliford Try in the future, as they support us in teaching the next generation of construction professionals.”

The developer is working with Homes for Northumberland and Northumberland County Council to deliver 48 new affordable houses, bungalows and apartments on previously disused land next to Dandsfield Square.

Managing director Stephen McCoy said: “It will be great to have these young people on site, to share our experience with them and to answer their questions. We regularly get involved in initiatives that encourage young people into the sector.

“Construction is a fast growing and changing industry which offers a huge variety of career opportunities for both men and women. We want to showcase the kind of challenges and rewards it offers in order to encourage bright young people to make it their choice for working life.”

The creation of these work placements follows an event held by the developer at two of its sites in Gateshead and Alnwick earlier this month. These open days – which were preceded by a visit from the Duchess of Northumberland – promoted the varied roles, responsibilities and opportunities offered by a career working in the built environment.

Galliford Try is also holding a workshop and site visit with A-level students from James Calvert Spence College to discuss the further education options available to those working towards careers in disciplines such as architecture, surveying, design co-ordinance or estimating.

“Because of the size of the company we get to work on some really interesting projects and we are encouraged to bring forward ideas as well as work closely with the lads who have been doing the job for years who pass on years of knowledge.”

The apprentices programmed the water jet cutting machine to carve an image of Durham Cathedral in copper plate and also presented the Bishop with a Rose

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Window coaster and a pig that he had assembled himself.

NECC director of policy Ross Smith said: “IK-UK is a perfect example of a modern, forward-thinking business that is growing with its workforce and a clear demonstration of how apprenticeships are an ideal way of recruiting and developing a highly skilled workforce that can be moulded to meet individual needs.”

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

SPRING 15

NEWS

>> Learning as they build Esh Construction is delivering a STEM Centre for Middlesbrough College and is using the building process as a teaching aid.

The £7.4m centre is a three storey, steel framed building combining classrooms with workshop, production and manufacturing areas, ICT Suites, cafe and break out rooms.

Sited on reclaimed Middlehaven Dock, a leg of the filled dock projects beneath the building footprint. Up to 500 of the college’s construction skills students regularly visit the site as part of their studies and to develop their understanding of the world of work.

Running in parallel with construction work on Teesside, including the STEM Centre, the Esh ‘Added Value’ team has been supporting local communities in six schools through delivering the Building My Skills programme - four in Middlesbrough: Outwood Academy; Unity City Academy; Trinity School and Ormesby School and two in Stockton: Bishopsgarth School and North Shore Academy.

More than 3,900 learner hours will be delivered by Esh Group and its Building My Skills Partner Businesses to around 790 Year 10 students – work which is designed to help young people prepare for the world of work effectively.

In addition, up to 500 construction skills students at Middlesbrough College will take part in site visits during the build process of the STEM Centre to observe relevant trades in situ, take photographs and ask questions.

Michelle Webster, head of house at Ormesby School said: “Ormesby School has worked with Esh Group since 2011 and it is something we are very excited about. We have found this programme enables our students to engage well with learning employability skills and developing themselves further. This is a programme that has worked well in its first year and we envisage that this programme will grow further with every coming year.”

Construction director at Esh Construction Paul Redman said: “Esh Group is also part of the High Tide Foundation which has been created specifically with the aim of raising aspirations and improving education and employment opportunities for young people by bringing together the industrial community in and around Teesside.”

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

Gateshead College students (l-r) Connell Scott, Connor Wilson and Tom Heightley with the metal roses being sold at handPICKED. Also pictured is handPICKED staff member, Sophie Lamb.

>> Students blossom as their work catches shoppers’ eyes Everything’s coming up roses for Gateshead College as its new retail venture at the Intu MetroCentre continues to blossom. Metal roses crafted by fabrication and welding preapprentice students are the latest products catching the eye of shoppers at the handPICKED store, which provides an outlet for entrepreneurial students to showcase their retail flair and grow their fledgling start-ups. Students Tom Heightley, 17; Connell Scott, 18; and Connor Wilson, 17, have been turning their hand to thornier issues as part of their studies towards completing their Performing Engineering Operations Level 2 qualification this summer.

The youngsters have been using all the skills and techniques gained on their course to craft the decorative roses from sheet metal before welding them together to the highest degree of accuracy.

After fabrication in the workshop, the roses are being displayed and marketed at handPICKED before being sold for upwards of £30 apiece.

The handPICKED project is an independent outlet where students are able to trial their retail ideas and ambitions before going to market on their own.

The store can accommodate dozens of retail focused start-ups established by students – it’s anticipated that upwards of 100 young entrepreneurs from the college will be involved during the project’s 18-month trial.

Tom Heightley said: “Everything about this activity has given me a sense of achievement and made me feel proud, seeing what I could achieve.”

In addition to retail experience, handPICKED provides students with the chance to develop skills such as market research, product merchandising and customer service in a retail environment.

Local traders and craft-makers from across the region will also be able to utilise the shop as an outlet for product sales.

Judith Doyle, principal and chief executive at Gateshead College, said: “Well done to Tom, Connell and Connor. They reflect how students are benefiting from the investments we are making to enhance their learning and bridge the skills gap.

“We are equipping them with the entrepreneurial knowledge and training that will stand them in good stead for a successful career, providing that all important edge that employers look for in an employee. It is part of our wider aim of ensuring that our students are the most highly prized in the jobs market.”

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SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

NEWS

SPRING 15

>> Investing in talent A Gateshead IT firm is investing in young apprenticeship talent to meet demand and secure its future skills needs. Advantex Network Solutions has linked-up with City of Sunderland College and New College Durham to train seven new apprentices as they work towards gaining their Level 3 vocational qualifications. The move comes as the company reports strong demand for its managed IT services from the private and public sector and follows recent appointments to the senior management team. Advantex employs about 50 people at its Follingsby Park head office and is targeting turnover of £5m within the next two years on the back of new business wins and existing organic growth as it brings on board new services and expertise.

Current customers include GE Oil and Gas, The Gambling Commission, SCS, Redcar and Cleveland College and Gateshead College. The new starters are apprentice sales administrators Michael Wigham, 18; Louie Harris, 17; Courtney Gibson, 17; and Vanessa Ash, 17.

Cameron Smith, 18; and Connor Richmond, 19, join as apprentice engineers while Kallum Gilliss comes in as an apprentice technician.

The training they will receive as part of their four year apprenticeship will see them gain an industry recognised qualification.

A number of apprentices have already passed through Advantex’s doors on their way to careers with the firm and in the industry.

Sales and marketing director Stephen O’Connell said: “The company is planning for future success, committing itself to adding value through apprentices as part of its plans for ambitious growth and expansion.

“We’re delighted to have Michael, Louie, Courtney, Vanessa, Cameron, Connor and Kallum on board and looking forward to working with the local colleges to deliver

I’ve learned a lot in the few weeks I’ve been with the company

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

the intensive and specialist apprenticeship training they need.

“We are in the vanguard of the IT sector, delivering innovative, relevant and beneficial training programmes that will guarantee that current and future sector skills needs are met and indeed surpassed.”

Apprentice Michael Wigham said: “I’ve already

learned a lot in the few weeks that I’ve been with the company. It’s really interesting and it’s definitely where I see my future career going. I’m on track for a rewarding and sustainable career that really suits my skills and abilities, while Advantex is a great employer. I look forward to becoming fully qualified.”

>> A training programme students can get their teeth into A Sunderland business supplying specialised dental technology products is aiming to help turn the city into a major training and employment hub for the industry. Ashford Orthodontics runs an orthodontic laboratory creating and supplying teeth straightening appliances to more than 400 NHS and private practices across the UK, with clients in Australia and Europe. Ashford has created a lab in the city centre, equipped with 3D scanners and printers, where it currently employs 18 people. The business is working with Sunderland College to establish an accredited training programme with the aim of creating a centre of excellence in Sunderland for everything relating to dental training. Sean Thompson set up the business 15 years ago, along with Craig Stevens and Graeme Winyard, and a third of Ashford’s current employees are drawn from the long-term unemployed, and trained internally. Thompson said: “One of my biggest passions is to provide employability for the forgotten people who haven’t managed to achieve the five GCSEs necessary to get an apprenticeship. There are a lot of very employable people around who are now maybe 19, 20, 21 years old and now perhaps wish they had stuck in a little more at school.

“I want to introduce a new level in learning to help with this and we are working with the college to develop this, whilst also introducing workplace learning in maths and English.

“We currently can’t accredit the training we provide so we are looking at forms of external accreditation, allowing suitable candidates to start from a low base and have the opportunity to work their way up to the equivalent of an apprenticeship or higher, perhaps even a degree.

“We are always interested in hard working people who are skilled with their hands and can make things well. It’s like the days of Sunderland’s shipyard industry – not everyone was a draughtsman but without the blend of skilled workers to build things, the ships would not have floated.”

Thompson believes this approach to training can help create a thriving industry in Sunderland as the nearest major dental and orthodontic training hubs are in Edinburgh and Sheffield.

Ashford chose a four-storey city centre building in the Sunniside conservation area for its base, but the laboratory is outgrowing it, having expanded to create new departments for administration, 3D scanning and printing, production and dispatch.

Sunderland City Council has worked with the business to support its growth.

Thompson said: “We restored an almost derelict building, invested in equipment and created jobs in the process. “We chose to be in the heart of Sunderland city centre, rather than an industrial unit outside of the city. I am passionate about helping to develop Sunderland as a city, and I’m proud to be part of the fantastic work Sunderland Business Group and the City Council are doing to re-grow the city centre. We have had great support from the council to grow the business and have received help with investment for job creation and marketing.”

Sunderland City Council Leader, Councillor Paul Watson, said: “Ashford Orthodontics is an ambitious, growing business – just the kind of enterprise that we are keen to support and encourage in the city. Sean has taken a long-term view on the development of the business and has a fantastic vision of how the growth of his company can also grow the city and regional economy. He is to be congratulated and we will endeavour to support Ashford Orthodontics to help it achieve both its own and its wider ambitions to create a centre of excellence in Sunderland.”

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THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

SPRING 15

COMPANY PROFILE

Science careers stem from FUSION With millions of pounds being invested in establishing the Science Central site in Newcastle as a major hub for new science and technology-based businesses, the region’s confidence in the growth of the sector is tangible.

Somewhat fittingly, one of the first businesses to boast Science Central as its address is FUSION – a company set up with the sole purpose of safeguarding and developing the sector’s workforce of the future.

Recognising the region’s appetite for STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills, FUSION Director Claire Willis decided to put her 20 years’ experience of the sector to good use with a communication and consultancy business aimed at filling the skills gap.

Claire said: “With current research indicating that a young person’s choice of career path is decided by the age of 11, our work in primary schools, with parents and the wider community is vitally important to the future of the region’s STEM industries. The positive feedback we receive from pupils, parents and teachers is overwhelming.”

Claire Willis, Director FUSION, with after-school Kablooey Club members from Coquet Park First School, Whitley Bay

FUSION’S strategy for success is to start working with the future generation of scientists and engineers from an early age, translating key messages through creative events and activities such as its hugely popular after-school Kablooey Clubs.

T: 0191 495 7460 M:07949 592357 W: fusionstem.co.uk E:info@fusionstem.co.uk

OVERVIEW

SPRING 15

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS Tensions between the generations need to be tackled head on in business, since change is good, keeps you nimble and moves the business forward, says Rob Charlton Gazing into the economic abyss has concentrated minds wonderfully and brought about a welcome consensus on the importance of STEM subjects.

It is now a truth universally acknowledged that a country that seeks to enjoy a healthy economy must make things and must train a skilled workforce capable of making things.

That realisation has galvanised activity on a number of fronts leading to a renewed focus on STEM and to new educational bodies being established.

These are exciting developments and are likely to do much to close the skills gap but, as always when there is a burst of enthusiasm, there is a danger that some efforts may be misdirected and key areas neglected.

It is accepted that in order to teach STEM effectively, schools need teachers who are competent and qualified in those subjects.

Indeed, the government has launched a drive to get more physics and maths graduates into teaching with a support package that includes £15,000 for students to help with their university costs in return for them teaching for three years after graduating; fast-track

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

retraining for professionals already working in medicine and engineering; and one-to-one support for those who have already trained as teachers and are considering returning.

A recent report from the Education Datalab uses information about pupils’ grades from the National Pupil Database. It interrogates the data in a number of ways and one of the questions it asks is whether having physics specialists in schools actually improves attainment in science.

It could find no relationship between higherthan-average scores in science and the presence of physics specialists, nor could it find any overall relationship between a physics contextual value-added score and the number of physics specialists in the school.

The report says: “All our intuitions tell us that teachers with physics degrees should be better at teaching physics than those without. This is akin to saying that teachers with the greatest mastery of the subject should be the greatest teachers. Once we generalise to this level, we can draw on the wealth of evidence that suggests teacher quality appears to be largely unrelated to academic credentials.

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THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

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“It is a surprising and littleunderstood finding – it seems that the ability to engage and impart knowledge is quite a different skill than the ability to understand and store information yourself. With this in mind, why should physics teaching be any different?’’ Perhaps this is not so surprising. Those who excel in a subject are not necessarily those who are best at teaching it. It may be that they have become so expert as to lose empathy with, and understanding of, those who have yet to grasp the basics.

Certainly this report should remind us that there is more to driving the STEM agenda than just having qualified teachers. We also need teachers who can teach.

Another report – this one by the EEF – also draws attention to an aspect of STEM teaching that should not be neglected.

Traditional teaching methods may have much to recommend them, but one way in which they did not seem to produce results, was in encouraging females to pursue STEM subjects and subsequently careers in engineering and manufacturing. Admittedly social attitudes and expectations were probably more to blame than teaching methods but the fact remains that a huge amount of talent was wasted in the past and we cannot afford to make the same mistake again.

Women now account for 23% of all board seats in FTSE 100 manufacturers – up from 19% in 2013 and 21% last year – according to the EEF report Women in Manufacturing.

Two consecutive increases in the female share of directorships have kept Britain’s leading manufacturers in line with the wider FTSE 100 and on track to meet the minimum 25% female board representation recommended

by Lord Davies in his 2011 Women on Boards report.

In total, women hold 64 out of 279 directorships in FTSE 100 manufacturers and, for the second year running, all these companies – 25 in total – have at least one woman on their board. At the same time, the percentage of new board appointments going

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

The ability to impart knowledge is a different skill from the ability to understand and store it yourself to women has increased to 25% (up from 19% last year), a step in the right direction if FTSE 100 manufacturers are to achieve the one-third new appointments target recommended by Lord Davies.

However, while the female share of nonexecutive roles has increased (up from 25% last year to 28% today), their share of executive roles remains static at 8%. Only five of the 25 FTSE 100 manufacturing companies have a female executive director.

The report points to this being a symptom of a wider challenge. Women accounted for only 7% of those starting an engineering and manufacturing technologies apprenticeship in 2012/13 and they continue to make up only 23% of the manufacturing workforce.

Liz Mayes, North East Region director at EEF, says: “The imbalance in our sector between the number of women in executive and non-executive roles is a symptom of a wider challenge. It tells us that we are failing to tap into the entire talent pool and must strive to not only build and maintain a satisfactory pipeline of talent, but also address the worryingly low number of women within it.

“Until we attract more female apprentices, graduates and other new entrants we will continue to see women under represented at all levels in manufacturing, including the boardroom. Failing to tap into this rich resource is a wasted opportunity given our sector’s pressing and long term need for skills.’’

Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central, who worked as a telecoms engineer for 23 years before becoming an MP, pointed out in a House of Commons debate that when she started her degree, 12% of her fellow electrical engineering students were women.

While women now make up 43% of GPs,

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OVERVIEW

41% of solicitors and 22% of MPs, the proportion of female engineering students has not increased at all. She shared more depressing statistics with the House: • The proportion of computing A levels taken by women went down from 12% to 8% between 2004 and 2011 • There was only one girl for every 11 boys in the average UK A level computing class in 2011 • At the same time half of the UK’s co-educational state schools sent no girls at all to sit A level physics • In 2012, 2,400 home female students were accepted onto full-time undergraduate computer science courses as opposed to 15,100 males • Between 2001 and 2011 the percentage of tech jobs held by women declined from 22% to 17% • Only 6% of those who work in the games industry in the UK are women despite making up half those who play games • In skilled trades such as electricians, women form roughly 1% of the workforce Chi wrote to 10 leading companies to ask what they were doing to improve the situation.

She said: “Most firms thought that the main problem was a lack of qualified female candidates in ICT, engineering and science and all the firms said that getting more women in these fields was a corporate priority. Most outlined steps taken to redress this, from overhauling corporate procedures – for example, making sure women are on interview panels – to intervening early in schools to steer girls towards STEM subjects and careers.’’

She added: “We know that engaging girls at a young age and before preconceptions have formed is critical, by the time they are taking their GCSEs they may already have ruled themselves out of ICT.’’ Chi Onwurah was addressing the House of Commons and she is a politician but the point she makes is not a party political one.

UTCs and other STEM initiatives enjoy cross party support and this must surely extend to the importance of the subjects for girls as well as boys.

The message on the sexes and on teachers must be clear. We all agree on the importance of STEM, now let’s ensure that efforts are thought through and targeted. n

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

COMPANY PROFILE

SPRING 15

North East firms play a key role in creating new STEM centre A multi-million pound training centre – the only one of its kind in the North East – is shaping up by the banks of the River Tees. Designed by industry for industry the new STEM Centre at Middlesbrough College is geared up to deliver the skills needed by employers.

IT’S once again been reported that Britain is facing its biggest skills shortage for a generation.

Leading organisations and local businesses tell us there are talent gaps across a range of professions that are hampering industry’s attempts to re-energise the economy.

The gap encompasses a range of skills, from builders and welders to engineers.

A multi-million pound project here in the North East is set to change that.

More than 50 of the region’s business leaders have joined forces with Middlesbrough College to develop a skills training centre – the doors of which will open in September this year.

The centre is focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and is set to deliver the skills needed by employers.

The companies and organisations already involved include ElringKlinger, NIFCO, PD Ports, Sembcorp Industries Ltd, SABIC UK Petrochemicals, Lotte Chemical UK, Semta, SITA UK, Cleveland Potash Ltd, INEOS Nitriles (UK) Ltd, Tees Components, Heerema, Cordell Group, ConocoPhillips (UK) Limited, Fujifilm Diosynth Swagelok Teesside, Bignall Group, Lotte Chemicals, Huntsman, Casper Shipping Ltd, Bosch Rexroth Ltd, Cogent SSC Ltd, National Skills Academy for Process Industries, ECITB, and the North East Process Industry Cluster.

Using a super-realistic environment - the centre will simulate a typical industrial plant - those training will be able to get hands-on experience in a wide range of industrial disciplines, working under real-life conditions.

The level and quality of training being delivered at the centre will be second to none and companies are urged to take advantage of the workforce training on offer.

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

(Front centre) Zoe Lewis, principal and chief executive, and Ian Smith STEM director, with some of the business leaders who are playing a key role in the creation of Middlesbrough College’s multi-million pound STEM Centre

Thousands of employers across the Tees Valley already know the benefits of working with Middlesbrough College The highly-experienced STEM team at the college have designed a range of ‘off the shelf’ courses suitable for a wide range of industries.

They also specialise in creating courses which are tailor-made to meet the needs of individual businesses – meaning employers can choose exactly what skills their workers learn.

The MC STEM team is already working with scores of local companies, delivering bespoke training

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programmes in workplaces across the region – the result of which is better skilled workers, improved performance, improved productivity and increased turnover.

Designed by industry for industry, the STEM centre is the only one of its kind in the North East and those training within its walls – including 1,200 engineering trainees and hundreds of apprentices - will learn in a real working environment,

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SPRING 15

developing the skills, competencies and behaviours that employers are looking for.

It will operate as a simulated COMAH site – Control of Major Accident Hazards – and operational procedures will be in force to raise awareness and develop the important behaviours required in industry to prevent and mitigate the effects of major accidents involving dangerous substances, such as chemicals, petroleum gas and explosives.

At its heart is a process hall with a working plant overlooked by a control room where trainees can learn the skills needed to monitor and operate the processes.

The centre also has state of the art science laboratories, a CAD (computer aided design) suite, a logistics yard and a manufacturing hall.

PX Engineering Consultants Ltd from Stockton is one of the local companies working hand-in-hand with the college.

The team at PX is creating a plant layout within the centre. It’s made up of three impressive sections – process and engineering, steel erection and construction, and industrial.

Michael Arnold, business development director, said: “We’re delighted to be working on the project for Middlesbrough College.

“The expertise that PX has developed means we have the ability to take an idea from concept through to commercial operation, incorporating cross functional learning and adding value at every stage of a project.”

The first section is a three-phase separator used in the oil and gas industry to separate oil, water, gas and other impurities from crude streams.

The separator vessel is being created in transparent Perspex so trainees can see the full process in operation, and all of the materials are recycled.

The second section is a distillation plant, which is used in the process industries to separate individual components from liquid mixtures.

This technique is used throughout the oil and gas industries – trainees will initially use it to separate methanol water mixtures to learn about continuous and batch distillation.

In the third section – a training column 3m in diameter - they will be able to discover how to work in a confined space and go through a safe evacuation process.

The section also includes dry pipe runs with joints, pumps, valves and motors so learners can experience mechanical jointing and correct

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

COMPANY PROFILE EMPLOYER COURSES INCLUDE:

Zoe Lewis, principal and chief executive

STEM-RELATED APPRENTICESHIPS: • Engineering Maintenance Level 3 • Mechanical Manufacturing Engineering Level 2 and 3 • Welding – Plate Level 3 • Welding Pipe – Level 3 • Instrumentation and Control Level 3 • Electrical Engineering Level 3 • IT, Software, Web & Telecoms Professionals Level 2 and 3 • IT Specialist Cyberspace Security Level 3 • IT Application Specialist Level 3 • Creative Media Level 3

procedures for installing and removing devices.

Zoe Lewis, principal and chief executive, said: “Thousands of employers across the Tees Valley already know the benefits of working with Middlesbrough College.

“Whatever a company’s training needs, from advanced manufacturing to business management, we can help.

“We work with companies to ensure training courses are tailored to meet the needs of the business and the individual members of staff taking part.

“The new STEM Centre is a natural progression of the relationship we’ve had with the area’s industry for many years – we’re just taking it to another level to guarantee that the Tees Valley and Middlesbrough College in particular remains at the forefront of skills training.”

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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

COSHH Essentials PPE Regulations Manual Handling Health and Safety at Work Awareness IOSH Working Safely/Managing Safely CCNSG RIDDOR Appreciation and Application CIEH First Principles Risk Assessment Chemical Awareness Permit to Work First Aid at Work Site Safety passport CSCS Test and Training Asbestos Awareness COMAH Site Evacuation Training Lifting and Slinging Basic Rigging/Advanced Rigging Confined Space Entry Awareness Lifting Gear Inspection Safe Lifting Operations Fork Lift Truck IPAF Abrasive Wheels Hand Tools Bench Fitting Basic Mechanical Fitting Basic Hand Tools Robotics/Control Electricity at Work Regulations Control Room Operations/DCS CRO – General Control Room Operating Working at Height Regulations CNC Programming and Machining CAD Introduction to 5S Implementing 5S in the Workplace Lean Manufacturing Workshop Six Sigma Principles

Employers wanting to find out more about staff training, apprentices or even how they can get involved in working with the STEM Centre are asked to contact Middlesbrough College on 01642 333322 or email icp@mbro.ac.uk

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

PROFILE

SPRING 15

INVESTING IN TOMORROW

Middlesbrough College is making heavy investments in teaching STEM, as Peter Jackson discovers talking to Zoe Lewis, principal and chief executive

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

12

Science, technology, engineering and maths are hardly new subjects, so it is unsurprising that Middlesbrough College has a long history of teaching them.

It does, after all, have 12,000 students, of whom 4,500 are full-time, and it is the largest engineering training provider in the country.

“Middlesbrough College is the largest college in Teesside so we already offer courses in every single sector area, including science, technology, engineering and maths,’’ says principal and chief executive Zoe Lewis. “We also offer courses at every level from entry level through to post graduate level.’’

However, in recent years, the college has reacted to an increased realisation that there needs to be a new focus on STEM subjects.

It has doubled its numbers of engineering trainees in the last four years and now has 1,200 students studying areas from engineering construction to motor vehicles, and has increased its apprenticeships by 70%.

However, it’s not just about numbers.

Lewis explains: “Increasingly when we talk to employers they talk about skills shortages in certain areas and, probably more importantly, they talk about how they want different competencies and behaviours from trainees.

They’ve been talking to us about trying to add on something new to our training.

“This is something which, as a country, we should challenge ourselves with. For example, as a college, we are very good at offering education and training skills and increasingly at Middlesbrough College we have been focusing not just on those two but on behaviours, ethos and competencies to wrap around the education and skills element.’’

She cites the example of an instrumentation technician, who can not only learn the theory, which they would get from most colleges, but also the practical on an instrumentation training rig. Again most colleges would provide this, but Middlesbrough College will now put the student in a real working environment which may be in a confined space, or working at height, fully inducted in health and safety, treated like an employee and asked to solve problems. They will also be working shifts.

“Nowhere else in the country does this,’’ says Lewis. She says this is as close to being in the real working environment as they can get

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

SPRING 15

We have visited skills centres up and down the country and I don’t think there’s anything like this outside of the real workplace, which may not be suitable for training.

This is in the college’s new STEM Centre, part of a £20m investment.

The £13m centre – which is being built for Middlesbrough College by Esh Build – will specialise in advanced manufacturing, process oil and gas, digital technologies, pharmaceuticals, warehousing and logistics and engineering disciplines.

Companies including Huntsman, Johnson Matthey, Lotte Chemical UK, Caterpillar UK, Tees Components, Sabic, Amec Foster Wheeler, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, PD Ports, NIFCO and Sembcorp Utilities are backing the centre.

The college has an advisory board of 40 large and small employers which have helped it shape the development, specify the equipment and ethos. They are also sponsoring and donating equipment.

Training courses will be available for those already employed in industry wanting to improve their skills, as well as those with no prior experience but who are keen to land a job in the sector.

The centre will replicate typical industrial environments and will include fully functional chemical and oil processes which will be monitored and operated from a high tech control room.

A real life lean manufacturing facility is included that incorporates a robotic controlled production line, supported by a warehousing and logistics training operation.

“We have visited skills centres up and down the country and I honestly don’t think there’s anything like this,’’ says Lewis. “It’s going to be a fantastic facility for everyone.’’

Some students will be permanently based in

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

the new centre, while others who are based in the main building, will use it occasionally to supplement their study programme.

“Many A Level students thinking of going to university have never been near a plant,’’ says Lewis. “We are working with employers to build up an experience package, so anyone leaving any A-Level centre anywhere across Teesside could come in for a couple of weeks over the summer and get a real feel for the type of industry they are thinking of going into which will really help them inform their choices.

“There are so many possibilities. We are going to start this September but it will take us a good few years to get all of the training options into place.’’

It is anticipated that some 300 apprentices will use the new STEM Centre. There will also be at least 300 more additional full time students and at least 200 adults who come to the college and potentially thousands of employed staff sent by their employers for training. For example, NEBOSH (National Examination Board in Occupational Health and Safety) courses will be run in the centre.

Lewis detects a growing interest in STEM subjects which has been gathering for the past three to four years.

“We’ve been making a huge push on it in terms of providing information to people and parents about earnings potential, careers, skills shortages. Nationally there has also been a greater awareness of how the country has had a lack of STEM graduates and trainees. We have doubled our engineering numbers, our science and maths applicants, and our health care. That’s people being more informed. Also in recessions people look in more detail at what they think will improve their job prospects.’’

Was there perhaps too much emphasis in the past on the so-called softer subjects?

“History shows that all education is of benefit to people and much of education is transferable,’’ says Lewis. “I’m not doing what I thought I would be doing when I was 16 when I was first trained and very few people are.

“It’s always quoted that we produce too many hairdressers, yet we know that the biggest employer in Middlesbrough is retail and all of our hairdressing students have a huge focus on customer service which is very transferable.

13

PROFILE

“However, I do think that as a country we did lose our focus on science and maths, through the whole education system and that was partly the government in the 1980s that tried to turn the country into a service economy.

Many colleges were encouraged to drop engineering – we were, but we didn’t thankfully.’’

The climate is changing but Lewis says it will take time to make a difference.

“It does take a while to feed into the employment system. A lot of the skills gaps on Teesside are at the high end for 30-year-olds to 40-year-olds. It takes a while, but we have started.

“Many of the industries on Teesside are amazing at training their staff and investing in young people but there are still, unfortunately, too many that don’t. Only 14% of companies here on Teesside take on a young person, compared to about 40% nationally.

“But I’m really hopeful that as the economy is picking up employers will start reinvesting in their staff and in young people, which is what their businesses need.’’ n

Fact File • Between 2008 and 2015 the UK will need 2.4 million more people working in science and technology based jobs.

• 59% of employers expect to find difficulty recruiting enough people with STEM qualifications in the next three years. There will be significant growth in new jobs but also massive replacement demand. Economically valuable skills will matter most (intermediate and higher STEM skills).

• 72% of all UK businesses rely on people with STEM skills.

• 58% of all new jobs will be STEM related.

• Employers in the chemicals, pharmaceuticals and energy industries have identified a shortfall of 40,000 technicians and operators by 2022.

• The number of those studying for degrees in science, engineering and technology must increase by over 40% on current levels if demand is to be met.

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

The college always wanted to start small and focus on quality rather than quantity

SPRING 15

INTERVIEW

FOCUSING ON A BRIGHTER FUTURE Geoff Ford has been an untiring champion of preparing young people to work in manufacturing. He now sees light at the end of the tunnel, as he explains to Peter Jackson Geoff Ford was a voice crying in the wilderness for years before the value of engineering and manufacturing was rediscovered.

The chairman of the 105-year-old South Shields family specialist engineering business Ford – comprising Ford Aerospace and Ford Components – was advocating STEM long before the acronym was coined.

Now that many of the ideas he has long been advocating have become mainstream, he is still tireless in working to popularise manufacturing and engineering as a career and in ensuring that young people have the necessary training and qualifications.

Perhaps one of his greatest contributions to business education has been the Ford Engineering Academy.

The academy, which provides basic engineering skills in a six-month programme was set up in 2013 by Ford in partnership with South Tyneside College.

It aims to give 16 to 24-year-olds the initial training needed to gain jobs in a sector that is suffering a national skills shortage. Training is run at Ford Aerospace’s factory site at Tyne Dock, South Shields by South Tyneside College, whose engineering lecturers oversee the programme which is made up of 12 learning modules, including milling, hand

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

fitting, welding and lathe work.

As well as Ford, other North East firms which support the academy by providing work experience placements are Cellpack Solutions, Essentra, Washington Metalworks, Quick Hydraulics and Soil Machine Dynamics.

Additional support for the academy comes from two of Ford Aerospace’s suppliers, HAAS and Cromwell, which provide equipment used by the trainees as part of their learning.

At the end of their work experience, each trainee is guaranteed an interview for employment with their respective company for a full-time apprenticeship or job opportunity. Another option is to take a Level 3 college apprenticeship.

Ford explains that three core principles which inform the academy are contained in the acronym ASK, which stands for: attitude, skills and knowledge.

“Ford Aerospace provides the skill, South Tyneside College provides the knowledge and the young people must demonstrate that they have the right attitude and understand the needs of the world of work. That’s what traineeship provides – work readiness.’’

A third group of 12 students has just completed a course and a fourth group, which is likely to be 15 or 20 strong, is due to start in September.

15

Ford explains: “The college always wanted to start small and focus on quality rather than quantity but we’ve had three groups now and we are getting more idea how to run it and we can cope with more.’’

But, still learning or not, he proudly points to the fact that everyone who came through the academy is now in full time employment and he is confident that this will be the case with the third group. In fact, Ford is taking on one 17-year-old female from that group.

“Young ladies do well in STEM subjects at GCSE and then change direction because their perception is that STEM subjects at A-Level are too difficult,’’ he says. “That is probably a misconception on their part.

We are finding that young ladies are really adept at STEM subjects and are quite adept at engineering issues. At Ford, 25% of our entire workforce is female and we have no positive discrimination, everybody is here on their merit. We need more women in manufacturing.’’

Ford is also a STEM ambassador. STEM ambassadors – of whom there are more than 27,000 – are appointed by Stemnet, which works with thousands of schools, colleges and STEM employers to promote STEM subjects among young people. The ambassadors volunteer their time to promote STEM. >>

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

INTERVIEW

SPRING 15

Margaret Thatcher... just didn’t understand. Manufacturing creates the original wealth that drives any economy and any society. The service sector can’t service itself

Ford explains how his ambassadorial duties recently led to him sending five female employees involved in HR, finance, supply chain, quality control and purchasing to St Wilfred’s RC College in South Shields.

“They spoke to young ladies aged 17 and 18 about why they work in engineering, what drove them to it, what qualifications they had and why they recommend it. That went extremely well.’’

This is supplemented by work with Primary Engineer, an organisation based in Burnley in Lancashire, which encourages young people to work in STEM related professions, helping primary schools to deliver practical maths, science and design technology activities.

The Ford companies are currently engaged in a Primary Engineer programme with Westoe Crown Primary School in South Shields, helping the pupils to design and manufacture mobile vehicles with two teams of two engineers – an apprentice and a time-served engineer – who go to the school each week to give advice, support and explanation.

“It works very well,’’ says Ford. “There are currently 88 primary schools in the North East on this programme, but we could do with more.’’

Ford and his companies are also involved with the Tomorrow’s Engineers programme, run by Engineering UK which is an employer supported careers information initiative, aimed primarily at secondary schools.

In the North East, Tomorrow’s Engineers is based in the EEF office. Ford sits on the EEF Skills Group and he is proud that the North East region of the EEF was the first to have a skills group. He also sits on the EEF Primary Engineer group to promote the programme to schools and employers throughout the North East.

He also works closely with Framwellgate

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

School in Durham, which has its own STEM, enterprise and enrichment manager as a full time role.

“She makes a tremendous difference to the young people at Framwellgate School,’’ he says.

Students from the school have been to the Ford companies on work placements to find out about engineering.

Ford also sits on the steering group for Career College North East, CCNE. This is one of just four career colleges in the UK and the first to specialise in advanced manufacturing, engineering and computer science.

It was set up by a partnership of South Tyneside College and St Wilfrid’s RC College and is based on the Government’s new national educational policy of allowing Further Education Colleges such as South Tyneside to recruit students at the age of 14.

As a career college, CCNE will combine academic and vocational studies with students following St Wilfrid’s core academic curriculum for four days a week and then undergoing skills education and preparation for the world of work during a fifth day at South Tyneside College.

Manufacturing and engineering have become popular again, but I put it to him that he must have been in despair at one about the way in which politicians seemed to regard them.

“Yes, and I attribute it all to Margaret Thatcher,’’ he says. “She just didn’t understand. Manufacturing creates the original wealth that drives any economy and any society. The service sector can’t service itself. Manufacturing in this country used to be 23% of our GDP; Germany’s is still 23%, ours is now 11% and the next government, of whatever persuasion, needs to determine that it goes up from 11% to

16

get it back up there. It’ll be a different kind of manufacturing, it won’t be coal mining or steel but we can do it.’’

Is he optimistic?

“I’m more optimistic than I was because people are starting to realise.’’

He is so optimistic that he is hoping to replicate the Ford Academy model elsewhere.

He says: “I would love to see an engineering academy in every borough in the United Kingdom and I think it’s possible.

You need a private sector organisation with some drive, a committed further education provider and fellow employers who will be supportive of the aspirations of an academy.

“I’m talking to Gateshead, Sunderland and North Tyneside as we speak – they being our three immediate neighbouring boroughs – about the possibility of setting up academies in their boroughs.’’

Some companies have expressed an interest, particularly in Gateshead. Ford would act as an adviser.

“If I could help in any way I will,’’ he says.

“The Ford model may not suit everybody but there are the guiding principles behind it, the aspiration and the determination, and if I could help people in those regards I would.’’

Why does he devote so much time and energy to encouraging young people to go into engineering and on equipping them for careers in the sector?

“I’ve been working in engineering for 41 years now and I just want to put something back. Ford has been going for 105 years and I’d like it to go for another 105 years but to do that we need an appropriate workforce for the future and that means focusing on young people, encouraging them, setting the right example. That’s why I do it – it’s for the future.’’ n

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

SPRING 15

COMPANY PROFILE

A plastic fantastic future for Nifco NORTH East plastics manufacturer Nifco UK is set for further growth as it gears up for growth with an investment in people and equipment The Eaglescliffe-based business unveiled a new £750,000 Engine Dynamometer, a state of the art machine that will allow it to test and refine its parts. The machine allows Nifco to test the capabilities of its products – parts used in the engines and interiors of cars made by Nissan, Ford, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover among others, by running a real car engine in laboratory conditions.

Paul Chapman, general manager of research and development at Nifco, said: “We opened the doors of our new R&D facility in 2014 and since then we have been busy developing a strong team with the best facilities and

equipment to support them and their work.”

Mike Matthews, Nifco UK managing director and European operations manager, said: “This marks a huge step forward for Nifco UK, we have evolved from a business that makes products, to a business that envisages them and brings them to life.”

Nifco saw its Durham Lane facility added to with a dedicated Powertrain and R&D factory, including offices, a laboratory, test equipment and workshops. The company has added to its team with skilled R7D engineers capable of developing new products to help grow sales, and is embarking on a company-wide training initiative to ensure its team is highly-skilled and motivated.

Mike added: “The success of Nifco UK is down to

the support from our parent company Nifco Inc., public sector partners such as BIS and the local council, as well as the dedication of our teams and the investment we are making in our people and equipment to ensure we achieve excellence in everything we do.”

For more information about Nifco UK, visit www.nifcoeu.com or call 01642 672 299

“Nifco is a really encouraging place to work. I was recently offered a new role, so it is great to be progressing and gaining wider exposure and understanding of the business. The new role offers a broader remit and greater opportunity to interact with customers, so it’s a really exciting step for me.”

Amey Kandalgaonkar Design Engineer Amey Kandalgaonkar lives in Darlington, and works at Nifco as a design engineer. He joined Nifco after completing a Masters Degree in Business Management.

Nifco UK is an award winning manufacturing company, based in Stockton on Tees.

Offering a range of exciting career pathways, Nifco UK is a key part of the Nifco Inc group, a global supplier of functional plastic parts for the automotive industry.

The company is helping to put the North East on the map as a place for manufacturing, and with an order book that is full for the next five years and an impressive list of customers including Ford, Honda, Nissan and Toyota to name but a few, the future is bright for this leading company.

To find out more about opportunities at Nifco UK, visit www.nifcoeu.com

• www.nifco.com • www.nifcoeu.com •

COMPANY PROFILE Engineers make the world.

Hartlepool College makes Engineers.

“THE ENGINEERING COLLEGE” – that’s how many employers both regionally and nationally refer to Hartlepool College of Further Education. While a rise in demand for engineers has seen new training organisations and other colleges dip their toes into the sector, few can match HCFE’s record or experience.

The first engineering courses offered by HCFE’s forebear, the West Hartlepool Mechanics Institute, were established in 1849 to train workers at the very outset of the industrial revolution. It became Hartlepool Municipal Technical College in 1897, delivering skills in engineering, shipbuilding and mathematics - making it the original STEM centre!

In 1962 Hartlepool College moved to its now traditional location on Stockton Street, in the town centre close to all major transport links.

At the time it had the largest workshops in the region, offering cutting-edge courses that introduced many engineers to emerging areas such as electronics and computing.

Over the next five decades the College would build an impressive reputation with over 2000 employers across numerous sectors and all parts of the country – indeed, sometimes the world.

It quickly grew to become the largest provider of Apprenticeships in the area – a status it maintains to this day. Not only that, it’s the seventh best performing provider of apprenticeships in the country, and officially in the top 20% of English colleges for all programmes. It’s also the regional hub of the National Skills Academy Nuclear.

When the College moved into its new building in 2011 its engineering provision was expanded threefold, with new, dedicated facilities including state-of-the-art laboratories, industry-standard training facilities and even an aircraft hangar with three full airframes.

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

SPRING 15

Hartlepool College is one of the most modern facilities in the area, and its engineering pedigree is represented by an ex-RAF Jet Provost displayed in its grounds, fully restored by students.

Most of the new resources were designed with maximum input from employer partners to ensure that they met the demanding requirements of the various engineering sectors HCFE supports.

In addition, most of its staff have industrial backgrounds, some bringing with them decades of experience. In fact, many of the features that more recent organisations proudly promote were first implemented by HCFE as it has blazed a trail for others to follow.

HCFE was also an early innovator in its approach to higher education, working with university partners to allow students to move seamlessly to higher level qualifications while still studying mostly at the College. The College also runs groundbreaking BEng and MEng Aerospace Engineering programmes in collaboration with Teesside University.

Hartlepool College is renowned for its innovative vision, with courses always keeping ahead of current demands by careful monitoring of trends, technology and developments in engineering, and also through direct communication with a virtual “who’s who” of sector leaders. Companies it works with include Gestamp Tallent, Tata Steel, Caterpillar, Siemens, EDF Energy, Cummins Engines, Heerema, Darchem Engineering, Fine Industries, NSK Bearings, KP Foods and Altec Engineering, with many more engaging in partnership all the time.

HCFE frequently hosts students from abroad, with engineers from Kuwait, Nigeria and Qatar

18

amongst those taking advantage of the facilities, with English language teaching also usually part of the package.

HCFE is very proactive in encouraging females into engineering, with significant numbers enrolled.

On June 23rd it will be hosting a major event to coincide with national Women Into Engineering Day – organised, appropriately, by one of the College’s several female engineering lecturers.

Hartlepool College engineering alumni now work all over the world, often in senior positions – for example over the last 15 years several have gone on to be engineers at Nissan. They have a quality engineer with Jaguar Landrover, an engineer with GE Aviation in Southampton, a lead piping engineer and electrical engineers at Amec Foster Wheelers, a planning engineer at EDF and a senior electrical engineer at Whessoe Engineering, to name but a few.

You can see a short film on HCFE’s engineering provision, and its role in the North East’s engineering heritage, at bit.ly/hcfeeng.

To organise a tour please contact Graham Plant on 01429 404180.

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

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PROFILE

SPRING 15

BRIDGING THE SKILLS GAP University Training Colleges, UTCs, are at the forefront of the national drive in STEM teaching. The North East is to get two as Peter Jackson reports

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

20

This summer work starts, beside the new Hitachi train plant in Newton Aycliffe, to build UTC South Durham, the region’s first UTC, to be opened in September 2016.

Next year, it is planned that work will also begin on a second UTC, North East Futures, to be located somewhere in Newcastle, to be opened in September 2017.

The government funded colleges will teach 14 to 18-year-olds, with an emphasis on STEM subjects, and with the involvement of local employers. For UTC South Durham, University of Sunderland is the sponsor and for North East Futures it is a co-sponsor.

There are some 20 UTCs now around the UK and about another 10 ready for opening this September. UTCs are the brainchild of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust, set up

by Lord Baker, former Education Secretary in Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet, and the late Lord Dearing, one-time head of the Post Office and senior civil servant.

Baker and Dearing identified the growing threat of the skills shortage facing the UK in engineering and manufacturing.

Gary Holmes, pro-vice chancellor and dean of faculty at University of Sunderland and chairman of the board of trustees for UTC South Durham, explains: “We’ve still got high unemployment in the North East, we’ve got a thriving engineering industry, but those employers are finding difficulties in recruiting skilled people at all levels, from semi-skilled to graduate engineers and this is a litany we hear all the time.

“But, at all those levels the jobs are there and if we don’t supply some or all of that labour force, from our own training and education resources, it will come from somewhere else or the jobs will move elsewhere.’’

Most important, particularly with a General Election looming, UTCs enjoy support from across the political spectrum and the university sounded out the local MPs. Unlike Free Schools, UTCs are untainted by any suspicion of political ideology inspiring their foundation.

Bob Paton, managing director of Accenture’s Newcastle Delivery Centre, Accenture’s Newcastle Delivery Centre, which is sponsoring North East Futures, points out that Conservative Chancellor George Osborne announced the college but that Shadow

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

SPRING 15

Education Secretary Tristram Hunt is also a big supporter.

Paton, however, explains that it is the support of business which is critical to the UTCs. “A UTC is all about business and education working together. The region could be so much more successful if business and education worked together to give young people the work-ready skills.’’

Between the ages 14 to 15, UTC students spend 60% of their time studying the national curriculum and 40% of their time on a technology which is specific to an individual UTC. Between the ages of 16 and 18 those percentages are reversed.

UTC South Durham, which is sponsored by Hitachi and Gestamp Tallent, will focus on specialised manufacturing and engineering.

North East Futures, which is sponsored by Accenture and the Academic Health Sciences Network, will focus on IT and Health Care Sciences.

The governance of a UTC is similar to that of an academy. UTC South Durham, for example, has five trustees: from Hitachi, Gestamp, two from the university and a head teacher trustee. They appoint the governors and have appointed a principal Tom Dower.

Like an academy, it will be funded on a pound per pupil basis at the average rate of the local authority. The sponsors will not be expected to make cash contributions but, Holmes says their contribution in kind “has been staggering already’’.

The university could supply services such as estate or payroll issues where it makes business sense.

Is there any educational contribution?

“There is in that we will do for the UTC, on a large scale, what we would do for any partner school where we have an interest,’’ says Holmes. “That would include very obvious things like demonstration sessions, master classes, science events, STEM awareness activities. We do some of this kind of thing already, even down to primary school level.

We might send in one of our computer engineers to demonstrate some software applications, we might send in one of our automotive engineers to demonstrate something to do with battery technology.’’

Given the somewhat ad hoc nature of this

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The region could be more successful if business and education worked together educational involvement on the part of universities, why are they such a fundamental part of the model? Why University Technical Colleges?

“Baker and Dearing saw – and I think it’s not a bad insight – that if you could attach a university to each of those [UTCs] it would give it an image; a backing and authority that simply calling it a college wouldn’t. So they insisted that every UTC has a university as part of its sponsorship team.’’

And, presumably, a university’s involvement helps to underwrite quality, as no university will want its name linked to a poorly performing school?

“There’s a lot of reputational risk,’’ concedes Holmes. “It would be very much in our interests for this to succeed and, although we’ve not got such a central involvement with the Newcastle UTC, it wouldn’t be good for us either. You’re right, it gives us an incentive and Lord Baker’s condition does de-risk the notion a little bit.’’

So what’s in it for the universities?

“The first is about education qua education,’’ says Holmes. “We are a civic university and we are already heavily involved with the region’s schools, through the academies in Sunderland for example. We are still a huge teacher training university and we have teacher training partnerships with hundreds of schools in the region and we have a stake in better qualified and more confident young people because, in the end, that benefits all our universities and not least our own.

“Much more selfishly our involvement with those important employers is important for us too. The relationship we now have with Hitachi and Gestamp is very important to us.

It means we can offer them our expertise and they can come to us in a very open and easy way if they want to collaborate on something

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PROFILE

and it means we have access to some of their expertise and insight.

“There’s something about having a joint voice on issues of regional economic importance.

With Hitachi, the university, Gestamp speaking together on an issue, it counts for something.

It’s also very important that big organisations coming in like Hitachi understand the role that higher education plays in the region.’’

UTC South Durham has been in the planning for two years and got the Department for Education go-ahead last August. Since then Northern Education Associates have been appointed as project managers and the board of trustees has been appointed and a funding agreement was reached in March.

The building will cost less than £10m, reflecting the college’s relatively small size.

The centrepiece of the college will be an engineering hall, which will be large enough to accommodate a train carriage.

A particular challenge for any UTC is recruiting students at the age of 14 when they are already with established secondary schools.

“The whole premise of a UTC is that it recruits across a sub region; it’s not meant to rob the local schools of all their students,’’ says Holmes. “We’ll be recruiting from the whole of South Durham and Darlington, into Teesside, Sedgefield and beyond.’’

The college is looking for a minimum of between 70 and 100 students in each year group, making between 150 and 200 in the first year. When fully recruited it would have a maximum of 600 students.

As a STEM focused institution, it will not be offering a full range of arts subjects. Apart from STEM subjects, the college will offer a minimum number of other GCSEs in nonSTEM subjects.

Students will put in a longer working day, typically from 8.30am to 4.30pm or 5pm, doing homework on the premises. Being located on a business park, it is hoped that many students will be able to travel to and from college with their parents.

Surprisingly, one of the issues which is proving hardest to resolve is what the students will wear.

“That’s a real teaser for us,’’ says Holmes.

“Our marketing team at the university have been researching dress codes and >>

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

PROFILE

SPRING 15

Healthcare sciences and IT are really prospering in the North East

uniforms at other UTCs to see what they are doing. They fall pretty much 50/50 between a business dress for engineering, which could be hoodies at one end to smart/casual at the other, through to formal school uniforms with ties, skirts and blouses and so on.’’

Practical considerations can make things such as ties awkward in an engineering environment. It is felt that the uniform will begin to define the youngsters the college wants to recruit, hence the agonising.

“It’s a real challenge for us,’’ says Holmes.

“We’ve not decided.’’

Decisions on dress code are still a long way down the track for North East Futures UTC which is also occupying much of his time, even while UTC South Durham is still in the embryonic stage, though the university’s relationship with North East Futures UTC is as a co-sponsor, not the lead, a role filled

by Accenture.

The employer partners in this proposal are going through a bid preparation process. This has been scrutinised by the DfE, which gave permission to proceed in March. Over the next two and a half years before opening, it will have to follow in the footsteps of South Durham, getting policies and financial plans approved, appointing a principal, trustees and a governing body.

“The skill set and challenges behind North East Futures are different,’’ says Holmes.

“Every UTC is a variant on the theme of engineering, but North East Futures is going to specialise in digital technology with particular reference to health sciences. That is because

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

of the skills shortage that is going to get worse because of the importance of digital diagnostics to the health service.

“As well as traditional digital engineering with people like Sage on board and Accenture, it’s noteworthy that the health service is a partner in this.’’

He points also to a difference in the context and location.

“This will be in the city of Newcastle and therefore it will be drawing from an essentially urban footprint, even though, depending on where it’s located, if it was near a Metro station, it could recruit from a very large area.

Wherever you put it, it’s going to be close to another school, so it’s possibly going to be a little more controversial.’’

It does, however, have the support of the City Council, which is currently working with the trustees on various site options, which could involve a new-build or a rebuild.

Bob Paton of Accenture was inspired to explore the possibility of a UTC in Newcastle, when he heard Lord Baker speak at an event at RTC North, of which Paton is chairman.

He says: “I really got what he was saying about the benefit of vocational training and I came away from that thinking it would be a good idea to have an IT UTC. Subsequently we joined forces with other people at the event and we thought it would be a good idea to have a joint IT health care sciences UTC.’’ It received the backing of Accenture, Sage, HP and various hospital trusts, as well as University of Sunderland and two

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sector networks: the Academic Health Sciences Network and Dynamo, the North East IT network.

Like UTC South Durham, the aim is eventually to have up to 600 students.

“Healthcare sciences and IT are really prospering in the North East,’’ says Paton.

“Newcastle is a UK centre for research into ageing. It’s about making sure we have the right people with the right skills to go into both sectors.’’

He adds: “Accenture is growing in the North East, technology is growing in the North East and we want to increase the pool of young people with the right work ready skills to join the likes of Accenture or the wider IT community.’’

The catchment area for the college will be Tyneside, Wearside, Northumberland and County Durham.

Although recruiting from slightly different areas, for different sectors, central to both colleges, apart from University of Sunderland, is the close involvement of businesses.

Holmes says: “The raison d’etre and the vision common to all UTCs comes back to that skills challenge and the involvement of the employers. It’s a very different employer relationship to what you currently get.

Typically a secondary school goes to a local employer and they do work placements and they might send in people to do party pieces, but it’s not about the same organic involvement.

“With a UTC, the employers are there at the planning stage. With the engineering curriculum we are devising in South Durham, Gestamp and Hitachi are already staking out their ground on which options within BTech Engineering and which skills areas we could pursue. That means that they can then support that through helping the staff design the project work, which is critical to that STEM curriculum.’’

“It’s all about real life, work experience with employers,’’ says Paton. “It’s about getting our young people ready for work and making sure that when they join their industry sectors they are ready to make a big difference. We have a great opportunity in the North East for business to really work with education for young people.’’ n

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COMPANY PROFILE

City campus to meet stem skills shortage Sunderland College’s new state-of-theart City Campus will play a pivotal role in meeting the skills shortage within STEM industries in both the city and wider region The new £29 million campus, which opens in September 2016, will house the college’s Advanced Manufacture and Engineering Centre.

It will be equipped with leading edge facilities and will transform the teaching and learning of the subject area, delivering work ready students into the industry.

Iain Nixon, Executive Director at Sunderland College, said: “There is currently a demand for people with STEM skills and qualifications and here in Sunderland, we expect that demand, particularly around engineering and manufacturing, to grow with the development of the International Advanced Manufacturing Park.

“We’re working closely with industry experts to align both our curriculum offer and facilities within the new City Campus to ensure we can play a central role in meeting that demand.”

Advanced manufacture and engineering is a key priority within Sunderland College’s STEM strategy which aims to build upon the college’s expertise and facilities whilst addressing the industry skills gaps for Sunderland and the wider region.

Additional sectors include: digital and software development; applied science, health and wellbeing; and, sustainable construction, energy and utilities. Sunderland College has already built a strong reputation in these market sectors, working closely with a range of key industry partners including The Test Factory, Tombola, Gentoo, Sunderland Care and Support and Sunderland Home Care Associates.

Iain added: “We already have thousands of students of all ages studying STEM subjects at a range of levels from A Levels and BTECs in the Sciences to Apprenticeships and HNDs in Construction and Engineering. Our vision is to ensure we continue to prepare our students for a successful and long career in a STEM related industry, whilst at the same time meeting both the current and emerging needs of these sectors.”

For further information on Sunderland College, or if you are interested in working with the College to shape their new STEM offer, please call 0191 511 6000 or email employers@sunderlandcollege.ac.uk

INTERVIEW

SPRING 15

A VITAL SPARK

Engineers are vital to the UK economy and STEM subjects are crucial in producing those engineers, as Engineering UK’s chief executive Paul Jackson explains to Peter Jackson Engineering is not just a nice-to-have for this country, but, as Paul Jackson points out, it’s essential, not only to our prosperity, but to our survival as a serious economy.

As befits the head of Engineering UK, he has the figures at his fingertips.

He says: “At a national level engineering contributes something like 27% of gross domestic product, which is £456bn and that’s quite a chunk for the economy that I don’t think anybody wants to give up.

“The other thing is that for every new skilled engineering job around another two are generated elsewhere in the economy. That multiplier is pretty high which makes it very valuable in an area.’’

He says in the North East, according to the latest 2013 figures, turnover from engineering related business was about £29bn, which was up on the previous 12 months. Engineering UK estimates the number of people employed in engineering enterprises in the region

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

to be around 167,000. This is higher as a percentage, at 28% of all enterprises, than for the rest of the UK at just below 20%.

As well as engineering businesses there are those that use engineering, Jackson explains.

“In engineering you often think about making the cars or building the buildings, but actually there are many businesses in the UK that are heavily dependent on engineering skills. In the service sector there are lots of engineering consultancies which are high value consultancies.

“Even in areas like finance they are reliant on IT systems that need some pretty significant engineering skills; in retail where logistics are incredibly important there’s no point having shelves if you can’t work out how to get the products onto the shelves on time.

Companies in food retailing need to save energy on refrigeration or on heating and air conditioning. It’s amazing when you start to look at the impact of engineering skills

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on the economy – it’s quite significant.’’

There has to be a constant supply of engineers to work for these enterprises, and helping to ensure that is one of Engineering UK’s roles.

The organisation is an independently funded charity which endeavours to do what it says on the tin and promote engineering in the UK. It provides labour market information and surveys public attitudes to engineering.

It particularly works with young people when they are looking at their future careers, helping them consider how relevant their chosen subjects are to their preferred career options and exciting them about opportunities and raising their aspirations.

For students considering engineering, qualifications in some or all of the STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – are a useful first step.

“It’s easier to come into engineering for people who have studied STEM subjects at school,’’ says Jackson. “Physics is particularly useful, as is maths and whether somebody is going for an apprenticeship or a graduate route or going to a college, those are useful subjects to have behind them.

“At the moment, it’s more difficult to transfer later in life, which is something the industry needs to look at, because if we are going to get the skills we want we need to have young people seeing the value of those STEM skills and the value of coming into the sector and potentially people career switching.’’

As part of its drive to engage young people with engineering and to alert them to the opportunities it can open up for them, Engineering UK launched the Big Bang Fairs on science and engineering careers.

This began with a pilot in 2009 and it is now held annually at the NEC, attracting about 70,000 people.

“That makes it a massive youth event in European terms,’’ says Jackson. “They go to talk about science and engineering careers to meet companies and universities and, if they have done projects at school, to take part in competitions to find the Young Scientist of the Year and Young Engineer of the Year.’’

This has proved so successful that in recent years it has been rolled out to the regions and Engineering UK has been building a network of Big Bang Fairs at a regional level and at a

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SPRING 15

school and college level.

Northumbria University will be hosting Big Bang North East on 7 July, which will include regional competitors for the national Young Science and Young Engineer awards and is expected to attract 2,000 participants. Teesside University will host another on 1 July, which is expected to attract about 1,500 young people.

A third is being held at Conyers School, Stockton on 2 and 3 July and again it is hoped that just under 2,000 will attend.

“This is about working with local people to make them happen,’’ explains Jackson. “We don’t organise the Big Bangs in the North East, they are organised by those universities and those schools by local STEM promotion organisations. We provide support, sometimes a bit of funding and we encourage them to use the brand and make the links with the businesses we work with.’’

Big Bang Fairs held around the country are now attracting more than 100,000 people, beating the numbers for the NEC event.

“It’s really great when schools run them for themselves in that everybody gets involved as a whole school activity in organising it, marketing it, in getting local business engaged, it’s great fun and that’s the direction we are going in – more local,’’ he says.

A second programme Engineering UK runs is Tomorrow’s Engineers.

He explains: “The difference between where we have previously been, which was taking careers information out to schools alongside activities, is that we are now supporting employers to do that.’’

Engineering UK has a Tomorrow’s Engineers employer support manager, Moira Shaftoe, based in Gateshead in EEF’s offices, working alongside the EEF, pulling together a network of employers already working with schools.

“She’s getting them to share information about which schools they are working with.

So, rather than each one just doing their own thing, they can see what everybody else is doing, see which schools are currently not being supported as well and that’s tied in with those attending Big Bang Fairs.’’

Businesses which have so far committed to work with the Tomorrow’s Engineers programme include GE, Caterpillar, Port of Tyne, Hitachi Rail Europe and Ford Aerospace.

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INTERVIEW

Attitudes to engineering have changed dramatically. Five years ago, out of women under 19, only one in ten had ever considered it – that’s now one in five. That’s a pretty dramatic change “One of its strengths is that we are providing support to those companies to work with schools that are close to them and to build this network of careers activity,’ says Jackson.

“Every one of those companies has available to them careers material that we put together, so rather than just hearing about Caterpillar, there’s material that covers a much broader range of engineering. So if the company they are seeing doesn’t particularly interest a young person in terms of a future career, they’ll see some other things and there’s a website for Tomorrows Engineers that enables them to follow up.’’

The North East was one of two pilot areas for the programme – and it is now being rolled out across the country.

“The North East has a strong engineering history and future,’’ says Jackson.

Tomorrow’s Engineers and the Big Bang Fairs are structured to put what young people are learning at school into context.

“If you think you are studying maths just so you can fill in a sheet of paper, you’re not seeing how relevant it is to changing the world,’’ he says. “Maths is about recording what the world looks like and finding a way in which you can change it. We try to give that context, supporting the young people and supporting the teachers and we try to get them fired up about the kind of things they could be involved in in the future, it’s pretty important.’’

He believes that the programmes are helping to turn the tide and to reinstate engineering in popular perception and, again, he has the figures to back this up.

“Public attitudes to engineering have changed dramatically in the past five years. If we ask young people about whether they have ever considered pursuing an engineering career, five years ago, out of women under 19, we’d

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find one in ten that had ever considered it, that’s now up to one in five. That’s a pretty dramatic change.’’

He argues that public understanding of what engineering is has changed dramatically citing research in which they had asked whether someone would recommend an engineering career. Consistently, over many years, as many as eight out of ten said they would.

That was puzzling, given that insufficient people were coming into the sector. However, they then asked whether people could identify an engineering innovation that had an impact on their lives any time in the previous 50 years. Five years ago two thirds failed to name anything, whereas now that is reversed with two thirds being able to name an innovation, pointing to a greater awareness of engineering’s importance and what it includes.

“That’s a massive transformation in only five years,’’ he says.

He puts this change down to a combination of factors, including the economic crisis which brought into focus the need to have a strong manufacturing sector, and this need to rebalance the economy now has the backing of all the mainstream political parties.

He also believes that Engineering UK has made a difference.

“What we do tends to build on what others do, so when we run Big Bang Fairs there are lots of companies and universities involved, so, rather than it just being individual initiatives, we’ve tried to get the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts and that has a much bigger impact and really gets noticed. That’s been one effect, the sector has started to get its act together by working together.’’ n A Big Bang Fair will be taking place at Darlington College on the 18th June.

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

INTERVIEW

SPRING 15

STEM BY STEALTH

It’s known that children have to be interested in STEM subjects at a young age and a new initiative seeks to hook them as early as possible, as Peter Jackson reports

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

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STEM subjects form the building blocks and foundation for progress and development in engineering.

In recognition of that, an initiative which is based in Burnley, Lancashire, is working to inspire children at primary school age in studying STEM subjects and engineering careers.

Primary Engineer is a not-for-profit organisation which was set up in 2005 to encourage young people to consider careers in STEM related professions.

It was the brainchild of Susan Scurlock, a former secondary school teacher and herself a frustrated engineer.

She says: “My father wouldn’t let me be an engineer because I was a girl. At the time I was at school you weren’t allowed to take tech drawing because it was a boys only subject. So, I couldn’t be an engineer, so this is my revenge.

“In 2005 there was a call from the then Department for Trade and Industry to get more engineers coming through the ranks and at the time we felt we had the answer which was to train primary teachers how to teach practical design technology, maths and science and then you’ve got your engineers.’’

It made a successful application to the government for seed corn funding and it has grown since then.

The organisation says it believes that science, technology, engineering and mathematics are key subjects to help secure opportunities and career paths for future generations, and that work on this must begin in primary schools.

Its work, which is supported by industry, education and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, is based on the principle of ‘STEM by stealth’, a term coined by a teacher after attending a Primary Engineer course.

Scurlock explains: “One of the kids came up

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SPRING 15

to her and said, `I don’t like you anymore because you’ve been teaching us maths and science without telling us’.’’

It means practically applying maths and science to design-and-make activities in ways that leave children and teachers inspired.

“The big breakthrough is getting boys interested in the literacy side of it and girls in the science and the maths side of it and it all coming together rather beautifully,’’ says Scurlock.

Primary Engineer offers primary schools a way to deliver practical maths and science to design technology activities. The class projects are aimed at each year group, linked to the curriculum, and designed to inspire and enthuse. Programmes include teacher training, interactive and paper-based resources, and regional and national competitions. All projects are linked to practising engineers to provide a real-world context to the project.

In the North East, Primary Engineer is working with 88 primary schools. In the region the programme is supported by the South Shields based Ford group of companies which works with Westoe Crown Primary School in South Shields on the design and manufacture of mobile vehicles.

“We help the young people in their endeavours with advice, support and explanation and it works very well,’’ says chairman Geoff Ford. “Primary Engineer are very supportive of us in the North East. We got onto this programme fairly late, only in about the last two years but it really is picking up momentum and I believe the North East is one of the more vibrant areas in terms of commitment by employers and by primary schools. It really does seem to be working.

“Primary Engineer have just announced a new programme called Early Years Engineer, working with kids aged three and four.’’

He jokes: “I’ve always said you can’t speak to these young people at too early an age but that’s pushing it a bit.’’

Early Years Engineer offers courses for Reception and Year 1 teachers.

“The amount of excitement from teachers who want to take engineering into reception classes and pre-reception has been extraordinary,’’ says Scurlock.

Apart from Ford, Primary Engineer works

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My father wouldn’t let me be an engineer because I was a girl – so this is my revenge with some 14 companies in the North East including Nissan, Siemens, Quick Hydraulics and Katmex, and EEF is a big supporter.

Primary Engineer courses focus on the application of practical mathematics and science. The courses are delivered to primary teachers who may be looking for fresh and exciting ways to support the delivery of design technology projects.

Primary Engineer runs training courses to give teachers the practical skills needed to deliver the Primary Engineer project in the classroom.

The one-day courses are largely hands-on and are supported by engineers, usually in an engineering company, and several courses have been done in Nissan and Siemens.

“They start to think about engineering as part of the curriculum and then they get to see what real engineering looks like. It’s that whole perception change for them that’s so important,’’ says Scurlock.

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INTERVIEW

As well as training, teachers are also provided with resources to take back to the classroom.

The resources include: site licensed software; interactive resources (compatible with Promethean and Smart boards); printed books; and access to Primary Engineer’s virtual learning environment.

The programme offers primary and secondary schools the opportunity to work together, building links to develop the skills of pupils and to develop their teaching staff.

Secondary teachers can cascade the training to primary colleagues as part of their primary liaison programme.

Primary Engineer also runs annual challenge events for schools and then holds celebration events enabling them to come together and compete against one another with the car models they have worked on in the classroom.

This year, it will be hosting a number of county and regional finals all over the UK. Primary Engineer’s Leaders Award for STEM is open to all students aged between 5 and 19.

This involves children receiving child-friendly CVs from engineers and then interviewing them about their jobs and writing a report.

It is aimed at increasing young people’s awareness of the breadth of opportunities open to them within the STEM subjects, to develop literacy and communication skills and to give the students a chance to speak directly with professionals from different fields in STEM. Last year, in the House of Lords, the organisation also launched the Institution of Primary Engineers and the Institution of Secondary Engineers.

“They’re going to be extraordinary, they are effectively engineering institutions for children,’’ says Scurlock.

Primary Engineer plans to stage an event in the North East this year with Professor John Perkins, chief scientific advisor at the Department for Business who wrote a report on Engineering Skills.

With its rich engineering heritage, the North East has proved highly receptive to Primary Engineer.

Scurlock says: “We are looking forward to working with more schools in the North East.

The support of the industries up there for the children is just extraordinary.’’ n

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

TRAINING FOR TRAINS SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

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XXX

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PROFILE

A new centre to teach the engineering skills needed by the rail industry has opened in the North East and has been widely welcomed, as we report Newcastle College has developed a multimillion pound training facility for the rail industry, the first of its kind in the country.

The Rail Academy has been developed in partnership with employers and the National Skills Academy for Rail Engineering (NSARE) in response to the rail industry fast approaching a crisis in the demand for skills, with 25,000 skilled staff due to retire over the next 10 years and 1,000 in the North East by 2018.

The Government’s plan to make the biggest investment in rail infrastructure for the last 150 years has led to massive upgrading and expansion plans across the UK network on an unprecedented scale. As a result there is a huge demand for new employees.

At the helm of the Rail Academy is its new head of rail, Marc McPake, who has more than 13 years’ experience in the industry.

He says: “Through the development of the Rail Academy, we are supporting the rail industry in building the solid foundations needed to ensure that there is a pipeline of highly skilled technicians now and in the future. Working with industry partners, we know the skills required to support a 21st century rail infrastructure and this facility will be able to support that future.”

The new Rail Academy contains real working environments dedicated to rail infrastructure, particularly for signalling, telecommunications, electrification and plant and track.

Training resources and equipment include: • Full indoor and outdoor OHLE; • Fully operating S&C and S&T equipment; • Multiple P-way set-ups; • Latest electronic and PLC testing and monitoring equipment.

McPake adds: “What’s so unique about our proposition is that we take a different approach. We don’t just offer qualifications, we offer the technical skills required by industry and the opportunity to develop a

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

solid career in the rail engineering sector. The Rail Academy has been designed to recreate a real life functioning rail environment within the confines of a safe training facility.

“The opening of the rail academy signifies the start of a new era in training for the next generation of rail engineers and technicians.

I believe that what we have here is unique.

We are helping to develop the skills that are needed by industry today, but also creating a pipeline of skilled people with the knowledge of the state-of-the-art equipment that we will see in the rail industry in the future.’’

The Academy is not just for young people looking to come in at entry level, the centre also offers training for those already working in rail or engineering.

Rapid advances and developments in rail technology create ever expanding opportunities for development and career progression. Working with industry, one of the academy’s key aims is for employers to influence its curriculum. Eventually the range of training solutions available will include rail apprenticeships, short courses for CPD, and higher education qualifications.

McPake says: “The Government is investing millions in our rail infrastructure and we are seeing massive innovations in rail engineering that must be underpinned by high level skills and training. We know that there is a huge demand for skilled workers and we must use this opportunity to inspire the next generation of rail engineers as well as support employers to develop their existing workforce.

“The Rail Academy is a great example of collaboration between industry and education.

It’s important that everything we do is focused around the needs of employers as that is what will help us secure the future of rail engineering in the North East and create job opportunities for more and more local people every year.”

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NSARE’s chief executive Gil Howarth, says: “NSARE is proud to support this excellent initiative which will provide a centre of excellence for railway engineering training in the North East.

“It is vital that we attract young people into our buoyant industry – we need a highly competent workforce to support record levels of investment.”

Jackie Judge, workforce development manager – LNE North, at Network Rail, says: “Network Rail fully supports Newcastle College’s vision to develop the next generation of railway engineers and welcomes the college’s investment. We believe this facility will contribute to the capacity of skilled workers required to deliver the significant investment which we are carrying out to meet continued increasing demand for rail services.

“We will work alongside the college to shape the curriculum, advise on the technology and facilities and provide links to our regional network hub in York. Industry developments and best practice will be exchanged to help to make sure that the academy delivers high quality candidates capable of supporting the next era of rail investment.”

The Business Secretary Vince Cable also welcomes the new centre.

“The Rail Academy is an important initiative that will support the Government’s investment in the future of the UK’s rail infrastructure,’’ he says. “Developing specialist training and skills is vital in creating the next generation of rail engineers and will provide opportunities for thousands of young people to develop careers in this growing sector. I would like to congratulate Newcastle College on this outstanding facility and wish all of the students every success in the future.”

The Rail Academy is based just off the Felling by-pass, in Gateshead, near to Felling and Heworth Metro stations. n

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

COMPANY PROFILE

SPRING 15

GE’s GirlsGetSET helps to fuel the future of science and engineering in the North East Investment in the next generation lays an important foundation for driving growth, with apprenticeships and educational outreach programmes playing a critical role in the development of well-trained, committed workforces for the UK’s manufacturing sector. It is a sentiment echoed by GE Oil & Gas, which recently introduced its pioneering GirlsGetSET initiative to two sites in the North East.

With the aim of encouraging more females to take up a career in STEM-related industries, GirlsGetSET has been gathering pace since its launch by GE Aviation, located in Cheltenham, in 2010. Since then, it has been adopted by GE sites across the UK - from Groby and Gloucester, to Cardiff and Rugby – with the company’s Aberdeen site the latest to come on board, partnering with three schools last year.

Now Cramlington and Newcastle have taken up the mantle. There is a lot of enthusiasm for the initiative locally, with 20 volunteers – all qualified STEM ambassadors – signed up to support the roll-out of GirlsGetSET to more than 120 pupils from across Cramlington Learning Village, Northumberland Church of England Academy in Ashington and Newcastle High School for Girls.

Events have started to take place at both sites, with a tour showcasing the process of inspecting oil and gas pipelines, and a team project focused on how to manufacture equipment more cost effectively. Future activities will include a project management workshop, in which students will take part in a rollercoaster ‘design and build’ challenge, and a visit to Newcastle University. The girls will also have the opportunity to join a personal branding workshop and learn core soft skills to help them kick-start their careers, such

Understanding the basics of cost effective manufacturing at GE Oil & Gas

as CV writing and mock interviews.

A five-year programme, GirlsGetSET (GGS) provides a framework in which the pupils are mentored for the duration of their academic careers, before leaving for work, apprenticeships, college or university.

Figures from a recent report by Engineering UK – ‘Engineering UK 2015: The state of engineering’ show why the initiative is so important. It highlights the continued inequality in the uptake and progression of women into engineering, with only 23.7% of entrants in A-level physics and 39.4% of entrants in A-level maths last year being women. Meanwhile, just 490 women

A fantastic start to your programme - the girls were very excited on the way back to school after their initial visit and all are keen to continue with the programme. Please could you thank all the staff who were involved, they are such a credit to your company and made us feel so welcome

SPECIAL FEATURE | SPRING 15

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studied engineering apprenticeships in 2011/12 in England.

GE Oil & Gas’ own employees, many of whom are qualified STEM ambassadors, are fundamental to the delivery of the GirlsGet SET programme. Their enthusiasm is evident.

Monica Slater leads the initiative in Cramlington.

An engineer herself, she developed an interest in STEM subjects at an early age before going on to study manufacturing engineering at the University of Calgary in Canada. She said: “It’s my mission to show how much fun a career in engineering can be and demonstrate first-hand the exciting challenges we face every day. From a personal perspective, engineering has provided me with some incredible opportunities and I hope to be able to share these experiences and inspire others to follow a similar path”.

Dionne Kennedy, Learning and Development Co-ordinator at GE Oil & Gas’ Newcastle site has spent her entire career in a technical environment and believes studying science-based subjects provides an excellent foundation for many roles.

She said: “It is really encouraging to see the commitment from local schools to engage in STEM-related activities. One of our main objectives with GirlsGetSET is to encourage these pupils and to demonstrate how rewarding and interesting STEM-related careers can be. It is a privilege to be involved in inspiring the next generation on their career journeys. We hope to inspire more schools and businesses to connect across the North East region.”

For more information please visit: www.geoilandgas.com www.gecommunity.co.uk/programmes/girls-get-set

THE FUTURE FOR STEM LEARNING

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