Engineering matters to the UK economy, on both a regional and national level, and the profession is vital to maintaining the UK’s position in the world. It drives innovation, regional growth and is leading in tackling the “grand challenges” that face society more generally. The c.90 engineering faculties in universities across the UK are playing lead roles in educating the engineers of the future and working with businesses of all sizes, and in doing so, ensuring enduring economic resilience through their regional spread and provision of talent and cutting edge research to innovative firms.
In this briefing, from the Cambridge University Science and Policy Exchange (CUSPE) and the Engineering Professors’ Council, we call for a long term, consistent approach to policy and funding, particularly around early educational engagement and strong and effective university collaboration and provide some case-study examples of some great initiatives led by universities from across the sector.
- Early educational engagement: We need more engineers. To address this, engagement must begin at primary school and university engineering departments are playing their part to build from the foundations set by schools.
- Strong university-industry collaboration: The UK’s historical record of partnerships between higher education and industry in engineering is strong, but more needs to be done to include mid-sized innovators.
If you are a university member and wish to download the amendable briefing, you may do so here.
