May 2019

12 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk May 2019 Maintenance Matters Focus on: Training E ngineering UK’s 2018 state of the industry report recommended that the UK needs to fill 124,000 core engineering roles a year to meet demand. The best way to fill this skills gap is to improve education. But are we doing the right things to mould the engineers of the future? Technology plays an important part in all our lives and our reliance on data is growing, particularly in industry. Businesses now require a workforce that can interpret the high volumes of data collected in industry and use it to improve productivity. The best way to secure a new generation of engineers in the workplace is to encourage more students to study science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects at a higher level. The UK Government is supporting businesses and education. In its Industrial Strategy in 2017, it proposed investing an additional £406 million in STEM subjects to provide better education and more paths into engineering, including higher education and apprenticeships. Technology in school Businesses and associations also fund schools and provide them with technology to make lessons informative and interesting. For example, in 2016, the BBC gave micro:bits, pocket-sized coding computers, to a million schoolchildren in the UK. With these devices, students learnt to code using simple online software. After a year, the BBC found that around nine in ten students thought the device could help them code, no matter their ability. Learning coding and other technical skills will help pupils understand more about engineering and encourage them to study it at a higher level. However, it is unlikely that the technology children use in the classroom will be used when they enter the industry. For example, students are learning how to code using current software, but this technology will inevitably be replaced in the future. As developers release more advanced technology regularly, it becomes obsolete faster. It may be difficult for the education system to keep up to date with the rapid developments of industry. If education falters and falls further behind industrial developments, students will find that Jonathan Wilkins, director of EU Automation, discusses the role of education in closing the skills gap. Moulding the engineers of the future