Walsall College has opened its new £300,000 Engineering and Manufacturing Workshop which it hopes will address a shortage of key sector skills in the region.
Around 40 dignitaries and business partners attended the unveiling at the Green Lane Campus with guest speaker Stewart Towe CBE, chairman of the Black Country and college principal and chief executive Jatinder Sharma.
Work on the 2,744 sq ft centre started in May with a large part of the revamp carried out by 25 carpentry and painting and decorating students as part of their work experience programme.
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The refurbished space is now equipped with the latest engineering technology and equipment including CNC milling machine, manual milling machines and lathes.
College bosses said they hoped the new facility would help to curtail the current shortfall of skilled engineers by rejuvenating local provision in the
College supports more than 80 engineering apprentices and the new workshop will allow for further expansion of the programme after outgrowing its existing workshop based at the Black Country University Technical College.
James Norris, assistant principal for commercial development at the college, said: "We are fully committed to the engineering and manufacturing sectors and this investment represents phase one of our ambition to be a leader within this sector, supporting the growth in apprenticeships and higher level skills.
"This fantastic new facility will enable us to work in partnership with a growing number of employers from the industry and ultimately rejuvenate the engineering curriculum offer in the Black Country."
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The workshop will cater for level one multiskilled engineering operatives, level two and three engineering, manufacturing and maintenance apprentices and higher apprentices.
It will specialise in basic hand skills, milling and turning as well as electrical engineering, maintenance and computer-aided design.