Unipart Manufacturing has launched a new scheme to encourage university students to engage in manufacturing.
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 scheme is run by The Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), a £32million joint collaboration between Coventry University and Unipart Manufacturing. The scheme 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 academia, industry and research & development in factories and manufacturing companies. The project is focused on providing students with activity-led learning that focuses on using the theory learnt in class being taking to shop floor projects, in a range of engineering disciplines.
Unipart Manufacturing sees investment in AME as part of the bigger picture, says Carol Burke, managing director, Unipart Manufacturing, “We are growing and targeting new opportunities and, whilst we continue to invest in machinery and technology, it is still the quality and innovation of our people that set us apart from the rest,”
“Our engineers are among the best, 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 new engineers and manufacturers. Having the faculty here within a live manufacturing site will ensure that these students are industry-ready for any of the companies they go on to work for,” she added.
Unipart Manufacturing Group (UMG) has several manufacturing sites across the Midlands. It is part of the Unipart Group, which has an engineering heritage, much of which has been based on its manufacturing operations.
