The Siemens collaboration with the University of Lincoln School of Engineering was recognised last night with the Times Higher Education award for Outstanding Employer Engagement. The collaboration with Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Lincoln kicked off in 2009 with the founding of the first new School of Engineering in the UK for more than 20 years. The first cohort of students from this groundbreaking initiative will be graduating in Summer 2013:
The collaboration between the University of Lincoln’s School of Engineering and Siemens has been recognised with the Times Higher Education award for Outstanding Employer Engagement.
This year’s category winners were announced at a gala awards ceremony, hosted by David Walliams, at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane, London on 29th November.
The partnership with Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery Lincoln began in 2009 with the founding of the first new School of Engineering in the UK for more than 20 years. The collaboration has proven to be a huge success, satisfying a demand both in research and employment terms.
The mutual collaboration has been praised widely with John Hayes, former Minister for Further Education and Skills, declaring the venture a “perfect marriage”.
The awards judges shared this outlook. Sir Deian Hopkin, president of the National Library of Wales, said it was “an excellent example” of a scheme “both to construct a major teaching and research facility and to address a skill shortage in the region. In turn, the University has won significant research contracts and hugely increased its reach to small and medium-sized businesses in the area, and this has boosted demand for the University’s engineering courses.”
Professor Paul Stewart, former Founding Head of the School of Engineering, said: “The Times award is further recognition of our ‘game changing’ approach to research-informed, industry relevant teaching, and a real engagement with industry. In the three years since it was founded, the School of Engineering has received a number of awards for its fresh and novel methods, including a Lord Stafford Award for innovation. It has also recently been named as one of Siemens’ principal partner universities. This upward trajectory is matched by the University of Lincoln’s unprecedented rise up all the university league tables.”
Scott Davidson, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Teaching Quality and The Student Experience, attended the ceremony.
He added: “We could not have won this award without the outstanding contribution of our industrial partners, Siemens and the vision and unwavering commitment of many people in both organisations. The education of industry-ready graduates by the School of Engineering not only meets the immediate needs of Siemens and other employers, but helps to secure and promote the economic well-being of Lincoln and the wider region.”
The collaborative nature of the School means that graduates are ‘industry-ready’ and able to immediately contribute when they enter the workplace – whether with Siemens’ manufacturing centre in the city, or other engineering companies.
The first cohort of students from this groundbreaking initiative will be graduating in summer 2013.
Steve Middlebrough, Director of Engineering, Siemens in Lincoln, said: “We are delighted that the University has won this prestigious award from the Times. We are all extremely proud of what we have achieved in establishing this in pioneering business/academic collaboration. Together we have created a centre of excellence for engineering, which will help to produce the next generation of ‘industry-ready’ graduates as well as leading-edge research. Congratulations to everyone who is involved in the Engineering School at Lincoln.”
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Marie Daniels – PR Officer
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