News / UWE Bristol
New state-of-the-art building to ‘inspire engineers of the future’
UWE Bristol bosses say they are redoubling efforts to increase diversity within engineering as they unveil a new state-of-the-art building.
Equipped with the latest industry-standard digital engineering technology, the centre is designed to support the development of the future generation of engineers.
It is hoped the multi-million-pound facility on Frenchay Campus will help the university realise its ambition to become one of the leading engineering schools in the country.
The building, which was completed in 2020 but officially opened on Thursday, has enabled UWE to expand its capacity to 1,600 engineering students and address the rise in demand for skilled engineers in the region.
The new building is equipped with the latest industry-standard digital engineering technology – image courtesy of UWE Bristol
Professor Lisa Brodie, head of the Department of Engineering Design and Mathematics at UWE Bristol, said: “Moving to our wonderful new building with its complementary practice-based curriculum has signalled a real cultural shift. Our students are now known as professional student engineers, rather than engineering students.”
UWE’s drive to increase diversity includes enrolling more students with neurodiversity and providing them with enhanced levels of personal mentoring and support from enrolment to employment. The university also wants to double the number of female engineering students.
Commenting on this work, professor Brodie said: “This is really important because if we want to solve the challenges we face as a society, we need to attract different types of people into the engineering discipline. We need to embrace different ways of thinking and doing, and celebrate differences. Our mission is to change the perception of the roles that engineers fulfil and raise aspirations in underrepresented groups.
“If we carry on seeing the same intake entering the profession, we will continue to come up with the same old solutions. With this in mind, we are aiming to produce more ‘non-standard’ engineers in the coming years. Engineers will need to think differently and be far more creative and innovative over the next decade, particularly with some of the challenges we face in areas such as the climate crisis.”
UWE Bristol is redoubling efforts to increase diversity within engineering – image courtesy of UWE Bristol
The building is set over four floors and features teaching studios, modelling and simulation suites, laboratories specialist workshops and student learning zones, accommodating a wide range of engineering disciplines such as composite manufacturing, machining and metrology.
To formally declare the landmark building open, a special event was attended by students, staff, alumni and industry partners. The guest speaker was Dawn Bonfield MBE, former president at the women’s Engineering Society, and celebrated sculptor Alice Channer, who was commissioned to create an engineering-inspired public artwork in the atrium.
Tod Burton, executive dean for the Faculty of Environment and Technology at UWE Bristol, added: “With our fantastic new contemporary building, fit for the 21st century and the digital era, we now have one of the top engineering facilities in the South West and one that will attract and inspire the engineers of the future.
“It has already been completely transformative for our students and staff, offering different and more flexible ways of teaching, learning and working.”
Planning and design work on the new building was carried out in tandem with a renewal of the university’s engineering curriculum, drawn up in collaboration with industry to ensure engineering graduates are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed.
It has been named Project of the Year at the British Construction Industry Awards where judges praised its intelligent and sustainable design.
The university aims to help attract a broader range of engineers by sparking interest among younger age groups, with schoolchildren as young as five set to be invited to visit the building’s Prototype and Play Lab to participate in inspiring engineering outreach activities.
Main image courtesy of UWE Bristol
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