Annual Buyers Guide

News 0 8 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk Annual Buyers’ Guide 2020 UK’s high-tech hotspots. David Martin, director of Oxfordshire Advanced Skills, said: “The vision was an employer-led skills hub that would provide high quality training contextualised by being delivered in the workplace, but OAS is so much more than that. We have created something very special here that has the potential to impact careers and business performance for decades to come.” Work has completed on the new 3,800m 2 training centre at UKAEA Culham with the first cohort of apprentices starting their journey in September this year. Using some of the UK’s most advanced equipment, it will provide more than 350 apprentices a year with sought after technical skills for the local economy and the fundamentals they need to succeed in their future careers. The centre is looking to recruit 100 apprentices to start in September 2020. Training at the new facility is being delivered by MTC Apprenticeships, replicating the industry-leading tuition provided at the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre (AMTC) on the MTC campus at Ansty Park, Coventry. The AMTC has built a rapid reputation for equipping apprentices not only with core engineering skills but also the latest advanced manufacturing techniques. The new centre is furnished with industry- standard equipment covering a wide range of engineering and technology disciplines. Fresh from securing his sixth Formula One World Championship, Lewis Hamilton visited the Royal Academy of Engineering to formalise his admission to the Academy as an Honorary Fellow, in recognition of his role in inspiring Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton joins the Academy Managing director of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre Paul Rowlett, OAS director David Martin, engineering apprentices Rebecca Marsh and Ella Quigley, and F1 managing director of Motor Sports, Ross Brawn. Paul Rowlett, managing director of the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre, added: “The opening of the new OAS Training Centre is a culmination of more than a year’s hard work, but it is only the start of our partnership with UKAEA and STFC that will see us deliver the OAS training programme. The new building has allowed us to create a programme that will seed the next generation of engineers for high value technology businesses within the region and address the current skills shortage.” interest in engineering, especially among young people. The Royal Academy of Engineering commented that Lewis Hamilton is an inspiring role model for young people in the UK and around the world, winning his sixth Formula One World Champion title at the US Grand Prix on 3rd November 2019. The Institution added that as the only black Formula One driver, and one who has come from a working- class background, Lewis has broken down barriers and demonstrates that those from non- traditional upbringings can succeed at the highest level. Lewis also met with a group of young engineers who are supporting This is Engineering, a nationwide campaign led by the Royal Academy of Engineering - and supported by a range of brands and engineering companies - to improve the representation of engineering online, celebrate the contribution of engineers, and encourage more young people to consider a career in the profession. EngineeringUK estimates that every year the UK is short of up to 59,000 engineers, while only 12% of the engineering workforce in the UK are female, and 9% are from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. On the first ever This is Engineering Day on 6th November, over 130 organisations signed a pledge to address the misrepresentation of engineers and engineering online and in popular culture.