After years of planning and development the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) have welcomed their first cohort of Integrated Engineering Undergraduate Master’s Degree students (aptly named as Pioneers) to their city centre Blackfriars Campus on the 6 of September 2021. The Chamber were lucky enough to speak with James Newby, Chief Operating Officer at NMITE who also discussed how the programme will address the skills gap within the engineering sector.
With big plans for the future, NMITE has already began development on a second campus which will house the Centre for Advanced Timber Technology (CATT) and the Centre for Automated Manufacturing (CAM) and is anticipated to open its doors to NMITE students in September 2022.
The unique structure of the courses on offer at NMITE make an innovative alternative to the traditional path to employment within the engineering sector. Students will experience a compressed programme which will allow them to complete an engineering programme within 3 years as opposed to the traditional 4 years. The courses will blend traditional and practical learning that will help students when they leave NMITE and enter the sector. James Newby, Chief Operating Officer for NMITE, said: “ Students who attend the engineering course will feel what it is like to do a days work in a normal working environment, which is something university students usually do not experience.” The course that students enroll on will cover all areas of engineering and will not be limited to a specific aspect. The end result will be an integrated and blended engineer that will be valued by employers looking for well-rounded engineers.
NMITE has been created to provide a different form of higher education, one that at the heart of it incorporates local businesses within the area. Engineering employers are currently struggling to find work-ready engineers. James said: “We can only create work-ready engineers if our programme involves that relationship with local businesses. Engineering concepts are taught to students through hands on practical projects which are undertaken in partnership with employers. The students will learn from our academic professionals but they will also work with the employer, encountering problems that you won’t get sitting in a lecture theatre and develop the important skills around team work and communication as well as the science of engineering.”
Through this partnership, there is an obvious benefit to businesses and well as the students as they will be experiencing 3 professional training years to go along with their qualification. It has been shown that those who partake in a professional placement year during higher education benefit the most so NMITE will be providing students with a platform to gain experience as well as being a work-ready prospect for employers.
As the UK continues to face a skills shortage for various sectors, engineering is no different. NMITE has called for new approaches to preparing students for the world of engineering and will look to ensure that after students graduate from NMITE they will be work ready and require less training from employers looking to fill that skills gap. NMITE will also look to widen the scope of people considering a career in engineering, those who may initially have thought that it is not for them. James comments: “We will look to bring people into the engineering profession who probably would not have considered a career in the sector through more traditional higher education means.”
Another preconception that NMITE will look to address is that engineering is a male dominated sector “That is a problem, you end up with a workforce that isn’t diverse and does not reflect the society it’s serving. So NMITE really has a real key widening participation mission, we’re trying to make engineering accessible to students that would not usually consider it a career for them.” adds James.
NMITE has this week welcomed the historic first cohort of students and are currently accepting applications for January 2022, for more information please visit www.nmite.ac.uk.