More than 20 students are set to take part in a new approach for delivering industry-ready graduates as part of plans to combat a skills shortage.
The youngsters will begin training at the new Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME) after applications for three-year BEng and four-year MEng courses exceeded expectations.
AME is a £32million joint collaboration between Coventry University and Unipart Manufacturing and aims to give young graduates real-world manufacturing experience.
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Wendy Garner, associate head of mechanical, automotive and manufacturing at Coventry University, said: “Our courses have been designed to meet industry’s need for graduates that can have an immediate impact on the shopfloor and also help to ensure our students gain skills that accelerate their own career paths.”
Meanwhile, work on a new 1,700 sq m manufacturing hub is nearly complete and this will provide the focus for a lot of the activity and will house more than £2 million of robotics, CNC tube manipulation machinery, metrology equipment and simulation software.
Ms Garner added: “The undergraduates will be learning on cutting-edge technology, not to mention working with Unipart engineers who have years of experience. It’s a real win-win situation for them.”
Studying at AME will be split into two 16-week semesters per academic year, with students focusing on specific industry disciplines and then working in teams to apply what they have learned to commercial shopfloor projects.
Over the course of the three years this will include manufacturing processes and materials, quality and metrology, advanced manufacturing and automation, design and sustainability and strategic management.
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In the final year, they will have the choice to specialise in lean systems and production control or engineering materials and manufacturing technology.
“At the end of the degree they should be ready to apply and enter into employment either at Unipart or within the manufacturing supply chain. For those interested, we will also be operating a Masters course, which takes a further year to complete and will be suited to students looking to become a technology leader,” Ms Garner added.
AME, which has received £7.9 million of Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), is also recruiting for ten postgraduates as part of its first year of activity.