Gazette Business

Basingstoke College of Technology on course for engineering academy

By Richard Garfield

3:25pm Thursday 18th February 2010

NEW plans for an engineer ing academy have been announced by Basingstoke College of Technology.

College principal Anthony Bravo spoke of the initiative at an Engineering and Automotive Employers dinner held at The Restaurant in the college.

Mr Bravo has high hopes for the academy, which is expected to enrol its first students in September.

He said: “It’s about providing really clear pathways to top universities – to the likes of Brunel and Imperial – and making sure brighter students actually see the value of going down the engineering/technical route, and see it as a real alternative to the tradi tional A-levels.”

Mr Bravo said he strongly believes that the UK needs more inventors such as Sir Frank Whittle who invented the jet engine and Sir Clive Sinclair who pioneered home com puters.

He said: “We need that innovation, that excitement. But we don’t just want the men.

“My belief and dream is that this engineering academy will ultimately have a real regional impact and it will significantly increase the uptake of females going into the engineering profession.”

Mr Bravo spoke of 17-year-old Kirstie Chandler, whom he described as a “fantastic, unbelievable role model of an engineer.”

He said: “Kirstie is what I aspire to this institution and this academy pro ducing.”

The bright student who has 14 GCSEs, spoke of joining the Young Apprenticeship programme, offered by BCOT, as a 14-year-old attending The Vyne Community School in Basingstoke.

She is now an apprentice at the Volkswagen dealership and garage, Martins Group, at Hatch, near Old Basing.

Miss Chandler, from Popley, who is set to return to BCOT, in Worting Road, to complete her level 3 certifi cate in vehicle maintenance and repair, said: “I came here one day a week from school, and got half a day of practical mechanics and half a day of theory.

“And while doing that course we had to do work experience, where I got the hands-on experience I needed.

“Without BCOT I wouldn’t be where I am now – a second-year apprentice, with plans to go to university to do a degree in motor sport technology.”

She urged the representatives of companies to “let more people like me come out and work with you.”

Chris Wright, BCOT head of engi neering and automotive technologies, said: “This programme is specially aimed at gifted and talented learners, in an attempt to extend the talent pool available to Basingstoke employers.

“The entry requirements are very demanding – a minimum of grade A in GCSE English, maths and science – and the programme is an extended one with a considerable workload.”

Mr Wright said the programme will be equivalent to four-and-a-half A-lev els and will have membership of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (ImechE) through its Engeneration programme, with access to mentors, graduates and experienced engineers.

Mr Wright added that the college also wants to develop a local mentor scheme in Basingstoke.

The academy has won the backing of Basingstoke MP Maria Miller, who attended the dinner.

She said: “Having more than 50 employers supporting the new BCOT engineering academy is a tremendous achievement for the college and I’m looking forward to seeing how we can get more youngsters involved in engi neering in Basingstoke.

“Engineering is part of our history and the work that BCOT is doing will make a tremendous contribution to keeping engineering at the heart of Basingstoke’s future.”

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