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Tag Archives: Engineering Education

PRV Engineering > Engineering Education
12 Feb 2016

Excellence in the supply chain

Your supply chain is your way of getting your goods or services to end consumers from obtaining raw materials to delivering the final product. The size of a supply chain will depend on the type of business you are. Small businesses may not have too many suppliers to deal with, where as a large or multi national company may have hundreds of suppliers to manage on a daily basis.

Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management is all about optimising your business operations to ensure speed, efficiency and cost effectiveness. Today, ethical sourcing and sustainability also play a major part in decisions about supply chain partners. The wider economic and environmental issues are a factor for many companies when considering applicants to their supply chain, as well as how the applicant manages their own business. Your values and how you perform as a business is just as important as your ability to deliver an end product.

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2 Oct 2015

How do we solve the skills gap in the UK?

A recent survey revealed that Finance Directors are more worried about the skills shortage in the UK than they are about the UK remaining in Europe. In fact, it ranked second only to concerns regarding the oil price. A worrying statement!

We ourselves have written previously about the skills shortage in engineering indicating that the practical skills needed are not being taught early enough. The misheld perception that engineering jobs are ‘dirty’ and carried out in oil covered overalls or while wearing hard hats on a building site is a perception we need to change. Schools need to open the eyes of their students to the possibilities of engineering careers out there. We also need to ensure that the practical skills that come with these jobs are taught and practiced throughout any period of education. There is little point in learning the theory of how to do something for 3 or 4 years and then not being able to apply that practically when looking for employment.

It seems, that these concerns do not only relate to engineering, but to employment as a whole in the UK. A report by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants recently stated that UK school leavers are the worst in Europe for essential skills. Whether they are leaving school at 18 or graduating later, employers state that students are lacking the skills they are looking for. It seems the most basic skills such as communication and teamwork are a struggle for many and is given as a major factor when deciding whether to employ a young person.

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4 Sep 2015

Addressing The Shortfall – UK Engineering Expertise

It’s no secret how much engineering is worth to the UK economy. Estimates are that engineering makes up almost a quarter of UK turnover. As a percentage of UK GDP engineering grew steadily through the global financial crisis. It is clear that the UK is still an engineering powerhouse with world renowned expertise, projects and businesses.

  • UK has 17% of the Global Share of Aerospace revenue
  • £30.7 billion in automotive exports
  • UK Engineering sector employs 5.5 million people
  • Bioscience and Renewable Energy sectors on the cutting edge
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26 Jun 2015

University of Bristol partners with Airbus

Airbus signed a partnership agreement with the University of Bristol last week, formalising their commitment to build on training, education and diversity. The agreement was signed at the International Air Show in Paris last week.

Talking about the partnership Thierry Baril, Chief Human Resources Officer of Airbus Group, said: “These partnership agreements underline our commitment to work hand-in-hand with academics and engineering education leaders to develop and secure the competences that the aerospace industry will need in the future.”

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20 Dec 2014

Does automation reduce the need for engineering knowledge?

The automation of any manufacturing process always raises questions about whether we will lose the engineering knowledge associated with the tasks. But all indications are that automation will need to increase in manufacturing in the UK if we are to keep up with the rest of Europe.

We’ve seen 3D printing grow hugely in the last few years. To start with it was only simple 3D models that were printed. Now we are using 3D printers to produce aircraft parts, prosthetic limbs and there are even food printers now. There are also ongoing developments into printing using metals and other materials. Last week saw the designs for a socket set being emailed to the space station where it was then printed out and is currently in use.

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21 Nov 2014

Engineering apprenticeships are the way forward

A lack of young engineers and in particular female engineers, has caused genuine concerns within the engineering industry in recent years.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has given the whole of British industry a significant boost by claiming that young people who choose apprenticeships and vocational training over academic studies will form the country’s ‘economic backbone’.

Speaking at the Skills Show at Birmingham’s NEC, Mr Clegg said; “We need to get beyond this rather fusty, old-fashioned view that the only good thing for a young person to do after school or a college education is to take an academic qualification.

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17 Oct 2014

Women in Engineering

Earlier this year we reported on the lack of Women in Engineering. This is due, in some part, to the perceptions of what a career in engineering involves.

Studies have shown that many female students believe engineering is all about fixing cars, getting their hands dirty and coming home with black faces and dirty nails. As a result, they steer clear.

It has caused widespread concern. So much so, that earlier this year, business secretary Vince Cable suggested the shortage of engineers, and in particular a shortage of women in engineering, provided a serious threat to recovery.

At that stage – and figures are understood to have changed very little – only 8 per cent of British engineers were women. That compares unfavourably with 15 per cent in Germany, 25 per cent in Sweden and 30 per cent in Latvia.

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14 Aug 2014

The future of engineering

Attracting engineers into the industry has been a topic of conversation for many engineering employers in recent years. Many will tell you that engineers are hard to come by and that schools and colleges are doing precious little to help the situation. Sir James Dyson has even gone on record to express his concerns.

Here at PRV Engineering we have seen at first hand how apprentice engineers and young qualified engineers are hard to come by. As managing director Simon Jones said, “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to get youngsters interested in engineering and as a result, we find it increasingly hard to recruit the right kind of person.”

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7 Jul 2014

Plans agreed for downdraft tower

It’s a fact that around 20% of global final energy consumption comes from renewable sources with more than 10% of all energy from traditional biomass, being used for heating.

At national level, at least 30 countries already have renewable energy contributing more than 20% of energy supply. Furthermore, national renewable energy markets are projected to continue to grow strongly in the coming decade and beyond.

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27 Mar 2014

Engineering in the future

A great deal has been spoken and written in recent times about the current state and the future of the engineering industry in the UK. Not only does Sir James Dyson claim he could employ another 2000 engineers if they were out there, but figures for graduate engineers entering the business, pale into insignificance when you compare them with those in other parts of Europe. Simon Jones, Managing Director of PRV Engineering in Pontypool, South Wales, is concerned about the future of the industry.

“It’s failing miserably,” said Simon. “There’s a lack of investment and a real lack of skill. It just doesn’t exist in this country anymore and engineering doesn’t exist in any child’s vocabulary anymore.

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