Many thanks to a number of superb guest speakers we’ve had talking to engineering students in the past 2 weeks. These include Prof. Neville Jackson, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Ricardo, Mike Oliver, Head of Innovation for Thales UK, and entrepeneurs Mike Jay and Steve Ranson at Myklops and Traffic Angels.
The government body ‘Innovate UK’ has put out a call for design based business / university (or other) collaboration projects. Projects of up to £100,000 will be considered for university (or other organisations) to help businesses generate better propositions for desirable, useful and feasible products, services and business models. There are some details here, Design in Innovation Strategy, although more specific information is expected in January. We’re happy to talk to you, or contacts if this is of interest . . .
Local company Amplicon – next door to the university – continue to impress with the newly released Impact-E 210 designed as an embedded PC.
Nice work from our Environment colleague Niall Burnside, using a drone to 3D deep scan the Roman site emerging at nearby Barcombe.
A great turnout from budding engineers from our local shools who worked hard on the first stage of building a racing car to enter the Formula 24 race at Goodwood next April. You can download Solid Edge CAD software at www.siemens.com/plm/solid-edge-student to keep working on the designs. See you in the new year to carry on the good work.
“A new report from manufacturers’ organisation EEF has shown that engineering grads can now expect to earn £28,000 per year on average, up 4 per cent on last year’s figure of £26,890.” “The average grad salary across all professions is £22,984, meaning young engineers are earning about 22 per cent more than other graduates. “Engineering skills are in high demand and short supply, which is why they continue to command a premium and why employers are prepared to pay it,” said Tim Thomas, director of Employment and Skills Policy at EEF.
Nice work from Brighton Graduate Oli Sowerby, with a 2m wide light designed for Blacktrace.
The government has pledge to implement a number of changes to engineering teaching following a Sainsbury report published earlier this year. This could replace up to 20,000 differnet subject routes with just 15 key themes including ‘creative and design;’ and ‘manufacture and engieering’. School leavers wil be able to choose between technical and academic routes. Is this good – or will it confuse employers even more?
Global Entrepreneurship week starts in 2 weeks time, and includes 2 free events at the University that might help shape some of your innovation ideas. Details here.
Expect widespread discussions as the Higher Education and Research Bill makes its way through government. The bill currently proposes to make the market for degree level education more competitive, to re-shape the organisation of university research funding and the way student fees are calculated. Explore the debates, form an opinion, get involved.