Warwick launches centre dedicated to bridging technical skills gap

• With increased pressure on businesses to be flexible, resilient, increase efficiency and to meet sustainability goals there is an unprecedented need for new skills in the workforce.
• In order to thrive during periods of change WMG has launched the Skills Centre, offering an ever changing and growing range of courses to meet current and future industry and business needs.
• The Centre is launching with seven new courses in innovative technologies ranging from energy systems, intelligent vehicles, digital and manufacturing.

The WMG Skills Centre launched today, the 17th January. The Centre provides the opportunity for businesses to respond to challenges through a range of innovative short courses which will equip workforces with the latest technical skills.

Over the last five years businesses and organisations across the UK have faced many challenges, from Brexit to Covid, with the next milestone being the urgent requirement to respond to the need to achieve Net Zero. The WMG Skills Centre will support businesses enabling them to survive and thrive through these and future challenges.

A Government white paper released in 2021 ‘Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth’, saw the then Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson CBE MP stating that we (the UK) do not have enough technicians, engineers or health and social care professionals. Redressing this will be critical to improving our productivity and international competitiveness.

WMG, at the University of Warwick, is a leader for bridging the gap between academia and industry, driving innovation in science, technology, engineering and skills. The WMG Skills Centre is launching with courses covering Digital Manufacturing, Energy Systems, Intelligent Vehicles and Manufacturing. Over the course of 2022 further courses will be added to support the ever-changing skills needs of business and industry.

All of the courses range from half-day workshops to five-day courses providing short, sharp, interventions to support skills growth. The first courses to be launched are Data-Driven Smart Manufacturing, Demystifying Digital Twins, Electric Drivetrain School, Intelligent Connected Automated Mobility (ICAM) School, Industry 4.0 Integration and Implementation, Manufacturing Awareness and Battery School.

Margot James, Executive Chair of WMG, University of Warwick comments: “WMG has worked tirelessly over the last 40 years to bridge the gap between research and industry, preparing our students from our academies, degree apprenticeships and post-graduate courses to be equipped with the skills to improve Britain’s workforce.

“I am therefore delighted to see that we can continue to help businesses improve their skills, by offering courses at the new WMG Skills Centre, so that everyone can access the knowledge they need to succeed, and help our industry partners, region and country to create a digital and sustainable economy of the future.”

Dr Benjamin Silverstone, Associate Professor, Head of WMG Skills Centre adds: “Change for business has never been more rapid and the need to adapt and evolve to meet current and future needs is critical to ensure survival. The courses offered by the WMG Skills Centre build on our strong history of delivering skills innovation to industry and will up-skill, re-skill and new-skill workforces across the country to ensure that they are resilient and able to thrive. “

Although the WMG Skills Centre is new, it has been created based on the success of courses that have previously been run by WMG, such as The Battery School. Dr Graham Hoare, President of Global Operations at Britishvolt who attended the course in 2021 said: “I have worked in the powertrain divisions of blue-chip car companies such as Ford, BMW and Jaguar Land Rover in the past. The course here at WMG effectively allows people like me, who have got good mechanical experience, to really understand and appreciate battery technology and enable us to lead teams of battery scientists in the future. The two days on the Battery School course were fundamental to my understanding about battery technology and really equipped me to be able to jump into this important world very efficiently.

“Batteries are at the heart of this industrial transformation, so being here, at WMG and learning and seeing with my own eyes how that can be applied really was transformational. I feel so much more equipped for the challenge ahead.”

You can find out more about the new WMG Skills Centre by visiting: WMG Skills Centre

This article was first published on 17 January by University of Warwick.