Poetry and English literature, not too much maths, a focus on problem solving and constant contact with industry. All will be on the curriculum of a new university for engineering set to open in 2019 with the aim of awarding half its places to women.
The New Model in Technology and Engineering - it is due to get a snappier moniker early in 2018 – will be based in the country town of Hereford and is set to become the first purpose-built university in the UK for 40 years. It will require initial investment of £80m, of which just over a quarter has been promised by the government.
"We will be looking for undergraduates with grit, curiosity and passion, and possibly a slightly maverick streak,” says David Sheppard a NMITE director and one of the project's founders. "They will be interested in finding solutions to problems and hands-on 'learning by doing'."
The chief executive of the institution is Prof Janusz Kozinski, a pioneer in technology education who made his name in Canada. He wants to create a new breed of “renaissance engineer” capable of working across disciplines in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, driverless cars and robotics.
NMITE is an industry-led initiative to meet what appears a serious shortage of people with science, engineering and technology qualifications who can fill vacancies in key areas of the economy including manufacturing. Difficulties in recruiting such people may be holding back UK economic growth – and may get worse in the event of a post -Brexit immigration clampdown.
According to EngineeringUK, the supply of engineering graduates in the UK falls short of demand by about 20,000 a year.
NMITE will be geared to providing students with the skills required for a new era of manufacturing and engineering. It will focus on areas such as digital technology, social interaction and combining skills in disciplines such as biotech and networking software, as well as mechanical and electrical engineering. It aims to take in as many women as men to increase the relatively low numbers of women in engineering.
Hereford university project artist's impression of the new NMiTE collaboration space.Unlike traditional courses, all students at NMITE will take blocs of lessons in either poetry or English literature. Sheppard says the skills needed to do well in these topics are comparable to those required in many fields of technology. "One of the keys to poetry and literature is having the ability to extract meaning from text," Sheppard says. "It's the same in engineering."
People enrolling at the university will expected to have had good results in English, maths and science at GCSE but will not require A levels in either maths or physics. Contrary to the way engineering is taught in some universities, maths will not feature highly in courses. "We will teach maths as a tool to solve problems rather than a topic to master for its own sake,” says Sheppard.
The plans have been welcomed by local employers. While Hereford – 80km south-west of Birmingham – is in a largely rural area, many small to medium-sized engineering and manufacturing businesses are based nearby.
"If we can gain access to young people who are industry-ready from college and university this can only be a good thing," says James Stansfield, managing director of Filtermist, a maker of industrial air filter systems. Edward Grainger, director at Grainger & Worrall, a forgings specialist, says: “We are delighted to see the increasing focus on technical and engineering skills in our region."
A core approach to teaching will be to group students in small teams that will work on "real world" problems applicable to a business environment. Secondments with engineering businesses will also be part of the courses - which will see students leave with a MEng degree after three years. NMITE is working with the University of Warwick to prepare the details of its curriculum and to gain the necessary credentials so it will be ready to hand out its first degrees in the 2020s.
Hereford university project Prof Janusz Kozinski - NMiTE founding president.The plan is that after a pilot year starting in 2019 when a small group of students begin studies on a test basis, the university will open in earnest in autumn 2020 when the first full cohort of 300-350 students will enrol. The institution is due to develop gradually to the point where it will have 5,000 students by around 2032.
The new institution – which will be in the centre of Hereford, partly housed in converted buildings – will be created in collaboration with Herefordshire Council which has been a big supporter.
Tony Johnson, leader of the council, says: "A new university provides the opportunity to encourage young people to Herefordshire and to build on our economic vision for the county, with all the businesses and services that students, alumni and professionals require."
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Key facts behind Hereford's new university
* People behind the university have been speaking to several engineering-based businesses about collaboration. While no agreements have yet been announced, the companies involved in discussions have included Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Heineken, Nestlé, Cargill, Costain and Qinetiq.
* A big spur to the project is to provide more young people locally with the skills they need to get good jobs in the area. At present the lack of top-level further education establishments close to Hereford leads to an average of about 1600 young people leaving the area every year to gain qualifications.
* The new institution will be the first "greenfield " university in Britain since the creation in 1973 of the University of Buckingham. It started teaching three years later.
* The chief executive is Prof Janusz Kozinski , founding dean of the Lassonde School of Engineering in Toronto, which was founded in 2012 with $50m from Ontario government and a $25m donation from Pierre Lassonde, a mining entrepreneur.
* NMITE is due to employ 18 staff by 2018, with the number growing to 540 by 2035.
* Studies will lead to people being awarded what is called an accelerated integrated masters liberal engineering degree, a form of MEng focused on combining creativity, design and innovation. The degree programme will be structured over three years, each involving 46 weeks of study.
* Plans call for the construction in Hereford of accommodation for 1,000 students, with the £80m cost met by the private sector.
