Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing, including Food Manufacturing and Related Industrial Chemistry
Sector Group Update - May 2009
The Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Sector is one of seven WYLLN Groups which have been established to respond to local higher level skills priorities for industrial growth. This diverse Sector, which includes food manufacturing and related industrial chemistry, is vital for both the regional and national economy. Despite holding enormous potential for significant expansion and increased revenue, a lack of high-level skills within engineering and manufacturing is threatening the UK’s ability to compete on a global stage, a problem exacerbated by today’s turbulent economic climate. In the West Yorkshire region alone, this Sector comprises over 7,500 enterprises and employs around 150,000 people.
Responding to challenge, the Sector Group is actively supporting local enterprise and learners through a range of targeted and effective activities. These are centred upon the development of new courses to meet industry requirements; improved progression opportunities for learners to achieve their potential; and, more accessible Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) about work-based learning. Over the last year, the Sector Group has led activities with academic and industrial partners to; initiate eight new curriculum developments, organise thirteen industry focussed events, engage with over 400 industrialists, promote STEM to over 7,500 Learners, and deliver IAG to around 500 individuals.
From ‘Blasting-off’ with top NASA astronaut Major-General Charles Bolden Jnr, inspiring learners to embrace STEM, to holding a ‘Foundation for Your Future’ Event to importantly listening to local industry challenges and needs, the Sector Group is now proud to be delivering on its developed structures and the collaborative partnerships it has forged.
With one progression agreement and two Foundation Degree (FD) developments already complete, the recent successful creation of a WYLLN supported FD in Casting Technology is one example of how best practice is being developed and applied. From a low starting point, the Sector Group brought together industrial, professional, and industrial stakeholders, delivering a true employer-responsive qualification in less than a 12-month period. What further makes this remarkable is that the qualification will be totally unique in the UK and financially supported for the first year by a Charitable Trust. As one validation panel member commented, ‘This is one of the best examples of employer engagement I have seen in 17 years as an academic... wouldn’t it be great if we could bottle the team’s enthusiasm’.
Based on this success, the partners plan to press ahead with the completion of their priority work plan, together with expansion of further lifelong learning interventions aimed at e-learning, staff development, learner progression and wider employer engagement.
Back to top