Canterbury Christ Church University, in partnership with MidKent College, are excited to announce the launch of Manufacturing Engineering Degree Apprenticeships.

The degree apprenticeships will start in January 2021 and has been co-designed with industry to equip apprentices with the knowledge, understanding and skills to take on the role of a manufacturing engineer.

The apprenticeship will integrate academic learning at degree level with full-time work experience, and apprentices are employed throughout the programme, applying what they learn in the classroom to real-industry situations. This also means that they will bring real industry challenges into the classroom to help develop a deeper understanding of manufacturing engineering and current trends.

“This new degree apprenticeship provision in partnership with Mid-Kent College and industry enables us to collaboratively grow local manufacturing to the benefit of the regional, national and international economy in a post COVID-19 and BREXIT world.”

Dr Anne Nortcliffe, Head of School of Engineering, Technology and Design at Canterbury Christ Church University

Manufacturing Engineers primarily support the activities involved in bringing design programmes into manufacture. This role is pivotal to the launch, planning and smooth delivery of exciting new products as well as further developing existing products to bring them up to date.

The apprenticeship will focus on advanced manufacturing techniques and the project management skills required to launch products on time, on cost and to the right quality. Typically, Manufacturing Engineers work closely with a range of other engineers and managers both within their own company and their supplier base.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Canterbury Christ Church University. Supporting businesses within Kent and Medway is our primary focus and we’re continually looking at ways to develop our provision to equip their staff with the skills they need to thrive. Employer support has been vital when developing this programme, and we’ve really valued their input into the structure and content. This has meant we have created a fantastic degree apprenticeship opportunity that will benefit local businesses.”

Lewis O’Callaghan, Apprenticeship Development Manager at MidKent College

The three-year work-based programme will consist of academic modules that enable the integration of work-based learning in the following areas:

• programming, installation and maintenance of automated machinery (computer-assisted process and control engineering) ensuring efficient use energy
• overseeing the flow of raw materials into a factory and through the production lines (enterprise resource planning) ensuring product quality, reliability and output levels
• logistic solutions to inventory or to the customer’s site (environmental protection, safety, and handling of hazardous materials).

There will also be opportunities to specialise in modular buildings, which are mass produced in a factory before erection on site, as well as Industry 4.0 and the use of smart technologies to enhance productivity.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with MidKent College on this new degree apprenticeship course to help local people start an exciting career as manufacturing engineers, as well as supporting the economic growth and development of Kent and Medway’s industries. Through partnering with local companies we aim to prepare well qualified and skilled manufacturing engineers to meet the needs of the sector, and help them achieve their business objectives.

“Our new £60million Science, Technology, Health, Engineering and Medicine building will open in January 2021 on our Canterbury Campus. It will provide state of the art engineering and computing facilities with exciting innovative approaches to teaching and learning. Our students will be given the opportunity to participate in real engineering problem solving through project-based learning. They will be able to contribute to finding real world solutions, ensuring that they graduate with the skills that will give them the opportunity to become effective future leaders in industry.”

Dr Rihana Ishaq, Director of Engineering at Canterbury Christ Church University

For more information

To find out more about the Manufacturing Engineering Apprenticeship or to employ an apprentice onto this programme please contact the programme leader salman.saeidlou@canterbury.ac.uk. or Apprenticeship Development Manager Lewis.O’Callaghan@midkent.ac.uk.