Car manufacturer Nissan has unveiled plans to engage with thousands more school children in the North East, aiming to spark their interest in careers within manufacturing, engineering and technology sectors.
The announcement comes on the 10th anniversary of the company's Skills Foundation, which was inaugurated by King Charles, then Prince of Wales, back in 2015. The foundation aims to double its STEM-related activities, reaching approximately 16,000 children annually.
Initially starting with a single workshop for about 1,000 students, the Nissan Skills Foundation has since grown to offer 13 different STEM courses for students aged between six and 18.
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To celebrate this milestone and its expansion, 200 children from various schools across the North East were invited to Nissan's Sunderland factory. Here, they participated in a production line activity, constructing 300 Nissan Qashqai models using Lego bricks.
Mirroring the plant's actual production lines located just metres away, the Qashqais were assembled sequentially, with a total of 61,200 Lego bricks used during the hour-long event - equating to around 1,000 bricks per minute, reports .
The growth of the Skills Foundation also coincides with the expansion of The Skills Academy for Sustainable Manufacturing and Innovation (SASMI) training centre, situated adjacent to the Sunderland plant. This facility will receive an additional classroom, thanks to the £14.6m Manufacturing, Automation, Digitalisation, Electrification North East (MADE NE) initiative, of which Nissan is a co-founder.
Adam Pennick, VP of Manufacturing at Nissan Sunderland Plant, highlighted the EV36Zero initiative which consolidates new electric vehicle models, proximate battery production, and renewable energy sources. He emphasised the focus on nurturing future talent and skills: "This is about the talent and skills of the future and we're showing that we've got that coming. We've got the cars that we're going to be building in the years to come. This is about nurturing that generation."
When questioned about if Nissan's global challenges – which have included declining sales, financial concerns, and a shift in leadership after unsuccessful merger discussions with Honda – might deter individuals from pursuing careers at the plant, Pennick indicated these issues did not exclusively affect Nissan.
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He added: "Challenge isn't new to us. We've been here for more than 40 years. That's what the success of this plant is built upon. This type of activity is opening people's eyes up - to get children to understand the opportunities that come through STEM and the excitement that comes with it. They are seeing it through learning. Some of the skills they're learning today - including optimising the process and teamwork - they are the building blocks of what we need here in the plant."
Michael Jude, HR director at Nissan Sunderland, expressed his pride in the company's educational outreach, stating: "To have inspired more than 100,000 young minds over 10 years is a phenomenal achievement. We could not be prouder of our training team who help unearth the exciting talent of the future. But it's not just about the numbers. We have dozens of current staff who attended a Skills Foundation event while at school, proof that the foundation's work today really does produce the talent of tomorrow."
Kay Straughan, headteacher at Gillas Lane School in Houghton-le-Spring, also commented on the impact of the Nissan Skills Foundation: "Over the last 10 years we've seen many of our school children attend various courses at the Nissan Skills Foundation."
She added: "We believe that by introducing children to the exciting opportunities available in STEM-based careers at a young age, we're providing them with the knowledge to inform their future career choices as they go through their educational journey. It's also a brilliant opportunity for our students to gain hands-on and applied learning experiences outside of our school environment."
The Nissan Skills Foundation offers a variety of courses, including the Monozukuri Caravan, which imparts knowledge on the basics of lean manufacturing; VEX IQ Robotics, where students apply robot programming skills to national competition challenges; Robotics Coding Club, which utilises gamification to teach coding skills, and Lesson in Box, a ready-to-teach STEM module delivered directly to schools.
In addition to its skills initiative, Nissan aims to fill 35% of its executive positions with women by 2030. Friederike Kienitz, Nissan's Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Governance, acknowledged the industry's male dominance, often finding herself as the only woman in the room. However, she emphasised the importance of workforce diversity in fostering greater innovation and creativity.