Unipart Manufacturing has opened its doors to the UK’s next generation of engineers and manufacturers.
29 students – 23 under graduates and 6 post graduates – were welcomed to the UK’s first ‘Faculty on the Factory Floor’ at Unipart’s manufacturing site in Coventry to begin their education in 21st century manufacturing and engineering skills.
The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), a £32million joint collaboration between Coventry University and Unipart Manufacturing, has exceeded the number of applications it had expected with interest coming from all over the country for its three-year BEng and four-year MEng courses.
This collaboration is supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Catalyst Fund. It brings together the best in academia, industry and research & development in a live manufacturing environment and is focused on providing students with ‘activity-led learning’ that thrives on taking theory and using it on real shop floor projects in a range of engineering disciplines.
Unipart Manufacturing seesinvestment in AME as part of the bigger picture.
“We are growing and targeting new opportunities all of the time and, whilst we continue to invest in state-of-the-art machinery and technology, it is still the quality and innovation of our people that set us apart from the rest,” said Carol Burke, Managing Director, Unipart Manufacturing.
“Our engineers are among the best in the world, but we need more of them and the next generation to come through the ranks with the same passion, knowledge and desire to do things differently.”
“Through AME we are helping to create the next generation of engineers and manufacturers. Having the faculty here within a ‘live’ manufacturing site will ensure that these students – who will be learning on cutting-edge technology and working alongside highly experienced Unipart engineers – are industry-ready and able to have an immediate positive impact with any of the companies they go on to work for,” she added.
“We believe this course will be both challenging and rewarding and wish these and all future students every success as part of the Unipart Manufacturing team.”
Unipart Manufacturing Group (UMG) has several manufacturing sites across the Midlands. It is part of the Unipart Group, which has a strong engineering heritage, much of which has been based on its manufacturing operations.
UMG manufactures a number of products and services in several UK industries including; automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, power generation and wider industrial sectors.
In recent months, UMG has been successful in securing significant research and development funding, both in its own right and also as part of a consortium allowing them develop the next generation of manufacturing products and processes which helps UMG stay at the forefront of its field.
For more information visit: www.www.unipart.com
For more information visit: www.coventry.ac.uk/ame
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Photo caption (l-r);
Manraj Phagura, Alicia Prior, Carol Burke, Managing Director, Unipart Manufacturing, Daryl Eastgate and Owen Vaclavik