With the world in need of more bespoke engineering services than ever to push ahead with innovative new technologies, the government has this week announced a huge new investment in the ‘world-class engineers of the future’.
According to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Business Minister Greg Clark announced that the funding would be split between 41 universities in the UK, for use for doctoral training partnerships. These four year schemes will be available to UK and international students following PHDs in science, mathematics and engineering who will begin in October this year, and also the same time the following year.
The investment follows the announcement of 2018 as ‘The Year of Engineering’ – a year long campaign to tackle the skills gap in the UK engineering sector. It is aiming to target young people between the age of 7 and 16 to raise awareness about what engineers do, to help bring more people into the industry.
Greg Clark spoke of the investment at the opening of a new University of Oxford spin-out plant, which looks to deliver on hybrid and electric cars, explaining that innovation is so important to out economy moving forward: “Through our industrial strategy, we are helping businesses and our world-leading researchers turn incredible ideas into scale-up products and services that are available to everyone.”
He spoke of the new Yasa plant as an example of how engineering can create skilled jobs and put the UK at the forefront of new technologies such as electric vehicles, something he believes we need to keep our competitive edge in the marketplace.