A centre of excellence bringing together skills training for the automotive, aerospace and engineering sectors is to be developed in North Bristol under an ambitious project by City of Bristol College.
The College is to embark on the construction of a new building and an extensive refurbishment programme of its existing buildings at its Parkway campus to create the £12m centre.
College principal and chief executive Keith Elliott told a gathering of business leaders: “Our intention is to create a leading centre for learning and development within engineering and related sectors, whilst working closely with the business community.
“The centre will enable the College to build on its extensive credentials and to provide the skills required in the engineering sectors, which will support the economic growth in the South West and nationally.”
When opened, the centre will provide an enhanced curriculum, covering for the first time hybrid vehicle technologies and composite materials. A further investment in new equipment, from a commercial vehicle brake testing system to an on-site jet aircraft, will enable students to learn from the latest technologies in the industry.
The college’s head of the transport and engineering technology faculty John Taylor added: “Our aim is to always deliver programmes that support the engineering industry in meeting their skills requirements and producing students who possess the knowledge and skills which will enable them to become the industry’s engineers and technicians of the future. We deliver this with a combination of the highest levels of teaching standards and cutting edge technology.”
The new centre will consolidate most of the college’s existing engineering, aeronautical and automotive capabilities under one roof, while related courses will continue to be offered at its centre in South Bristol. The engineering centre’s links with the new University Technical College (UTC), which is due to open in 2013 on the site, will provide end-to-end education from secondary school through to further education.
The new centre will have the capacity for more than1,600 students.
Brian Thornton from SEMTA, the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Technology, said the new centre would help bridge the skills gap that hampers many UK leading-edge engineering firms.
Thousands of highly-skilled engineers are due to retire in the next five years – leaving what he called a “demographic timebomb ticking under UK engineering”. Replacing these men and women was essential to keep the country at the leading-edge of the aerospace, automotive and other advanced engineering sectors.
