Strengthening Industry Connections

The School of Engineering at the College held its first face-to-face meeting with its refreshed Industry Advisory Board. The College’s senior leaders and the management team from the School of Engineering welcomed new faces to the board where the meeting started with a presentation on why the College does what it does and what the College’s mission of “excellence in further and higher education to transform students’ lives” actually means.

Members of the industry advisory board were presented with a booklet titled “Our Why, Our Mission” – this is something all current staff at the College have received personally from College Principal, Darren Hankey – and something all new members of staff receive within the first week of starting employment at the College.  It is a key reminder of the College’s long and well-established history, dating back almost 175 years and how we, as the current custodians, need to lay the foundations to ensure the College is still operating as an anchor institution within Hartlepool for the next 175 years.

The advisory board then heard about the School of Engineering’s curriculum and the exciting capital developments that will be taking place at the College over the next few years.  From this the industry experts gave advice on how to shape the curriculum and what equipment the College should invest in to meet the needs of the engineering sector across a range of disciplines.

Gary Riches – Assistant Principal at the College said “It was brilliant to have so much exceptional talent and knowledge from the engineering sector all in one room.  The passion that these industry experts have for ensuring the next generation of engineers can come into the sector and flourish is incredible - so much so, the meeting actually ran over quite a bit due to excellent debates on curriculum design and key equipment that will best prepare the College’s engineering learners for a future in the industry.  I can’t thank the advisory board enough for giving up their time to help create the next generation of engineers in our region.”

The industry advisory board is currently made up of the following organisations – Bridgman IBC, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, KD Pharma, Huntsman, Lianhetech, Altec Engineering, ECITB, Kellas Midstream, TATA Steel, and Oculus Integrity Services. 

If you would like to join the industry advisory board, please contact Gary Riches at gary.riches@hartlepoolfe.ac.uk