Welcome to the latest edition of the Canterbury Christ Church University Engineering, Design, Growth and Enterprise (EDGE) Hub newsletter. This year is an important one for EDGE Hub with the September opening of our £65m facility for Science, Technology, Health, Engineering and Medicine. This will become home to all our engineering courses and provide industry-standard spaces to support new product innovation and entrepreneurial activities.
We will be naming the new building early in the year, and in September we will welcome our first students into the physical spaces in EDGE Hub.
We are recruiting to our full range of new engineering-related courses and businesses, such as Barton Marine, are already succesfully working with students on innovative CDIO (Conceive, Design, Implement, Operate) incubator projects. These projects will continue to grow in number and complexity as our students progress through their degrees, and as new students join our expanded range of courses.
New members of staff are in place to support the growing number of students, bringing industrial experience and academic expertise that will then be made available to businesses through collaborative projects, professional and postgraduate training opportunities and networking events.
The start of the year saw the launch of the new B2B webpages at www.canterbury.ac.uk/business illustrating our commitment to working with industry.
Progress on the development of EDGE Hub and our Science, Technology, Health, Engineering and Medicine building will continue to be shared through LinkedIn, the EDGE Hub twitter account and Engineering blog.
If you would like more information about anything that is included in this newsletter, either visit www.canterbury.ac.uk/edgehub or email us directly at edgehub@canterbury.ac.uk.
New Webpages Dedicated to Business and Industry Launched
Our new webpages, dedicated to showcasing our offer to local and regional businesses, have launched.
Visit the new Christ Church B2B webpages at www.canterbury.ac.uk/business.
The new webpages enable businesses to access University expertise, commission research,
support the development and training of employees, and access the talent of Canterbury Christ Church students.
EDGE Hub has always been viewed as an amazing opportunity, providing a new approach to working with businesses to ensure University graduates enter the workplace with real-world project-based experiences. The new webpages include details on how businesses can engage with the University to improve how courses are structured and delivered, and give businesses the opportunity to showcase their work to potential future employees.
Contact us for more information about our offer to businesses by emailing our Enterprise and Engagement team at b2b@canterbury.ac.uk. We would also be interested in any feedback you have.
Inspiring Minds
We are delighted to announce that our Inspiring Minds project has been chosen to be a part of the NEON (National Education Opportunities Network) Innovation Series, which aims to improve access to higher education for students from less advantaged backgrounds.
Inspiring Minds is one of just 10 projects chosen by NEON and is the only STEM-based outreach project selected. NEON’s aim is to bring a range of different projects together and enhance their impact as distinct pieces of work, while also making a tangible impact on the national agenda in this area.
NEON launched the Innovation Series at the House of Lords in June last year. The projects are currently underway and all will be evaluated, with the findings published in a report to policymakers in October of this year.
Inspiring Minds is a project designed to empower and build confidence in Science and Maths for students aged 14-15 as part of the Kent and Medway Collaborative Outreach Programme.
Inspiring Minds is just one of the outreach activities run by our School and College Engagement Team, which works with schools to raise their students’ aspirations in attending university upon completing compulsory education.
CDIO Membership
Christ Church is breaking away from traditional models of engineering education, becoming one of only a few UK universities to be accepted to the international CDIO (Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate) Initiative – a community pioneered by the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The University’s newly-created School of Engineering, Technology and Design successfully presented to the CDIO council in Denmark in the summer.
The CDIO model focuses on creativity and problem-solving in engineering and technology education, and recognises the growing importance of close collaboration with businesses and industry.
The University’s engineering degrees, already underway and to be fully launched in September 2020 are incorporating the CDIO framework into all engineering and computing courses.
All of our engineering degrees are co-designed with industry and we invite businesses to engage with us on future course development, industry projects, student placements or to become guest speakers. If you are interested in any of these opportunities, email edgehub@canterbury.ac.uk.
Introduction of New Engineering Degrees Starting in September 2020
The opening of our new Science, Technology, Health, Engineering and Medicine building and EDGE Hub will provide the space and facilities to enable our full range of engineering degrees to be delivered, starting September. This follows the successful launch in 2019 of our new engineering BEng with Foundation Year courses and MEng Chemical Engineering.
Our engineering and computing degrees will give students the skills they need to forge a successful career. Engineering and computing play a crucial role in shaping the world’s future and these industries need creative thinkers and inspiring innovators.
In addition to the four-year BEng with Foundation Year courses, our BEng degrees (three years) and MEng degrees (four years) are being delivered across several subject specialisms:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Product Design Engineering
- Software Engineering (BEng / BEng with Foundation Year)
Our established degrees related to computing include BSc’s in Business Information Systems, Computer Forensics and Security, Computer Science, and Computing.
Our full range of engineering and computing degrees can be found on the Study Here area of our website. If you would like more information about any of our degrees, email enquiries.admissions@canterbury.ac.uk.
Digital Technologies CPD Session – Wednesday 4 March
The next EDGE Hub CPD (Continuing Professional Development) session, covering the topic, “How to make your business more efficient and productive using digital technologies’, is taking place on Wednesday 4 March at the Medway Campus. This is a free event.
Dr Alexios Louridas from Canterbury Christ Church University and Ravi Gidoomal from EDGE Digital Manufacturing will provide an overview of new opportunities available through digital technologies and share examples of how manufacturers are benefitting. There will also be an industry panel discussion, a Q and A session, and an opportunity for networking.
For more information, and to register for the event, visit eventbrite.
First CDIO Projects from Barton Marine Completed by Engineering Students
Students from the University’s Foundation Year courses in Engineering have completed their first projects, working together to find creative solutions to real-world issues.
One of the projects was assigned to the students by Whitstable company Barton Marine (www.bartonmarine.com). Founded nearly 80 years ago, the company makes specialist and innovative equipment for dinghies, yachts and power boats. It is currently working with a company in Latvia to develop a new roof-track system for boats and has asked the students to design a product that will be robust enough to use for their client.
Dermot Bealey, Operations Manager for Barton Marine explained: “Following some conversations between the University and ourselves it was decided that we could help each other as we have some projects that need working on, and the students need projects to work on, to gain experience and skills.
“Working with the University is ideal. It is a good opportunity as we’re a small company, so it offers us more resources in both people and equipment and we can develop ideas that we don’t have the ability to do in house. It’s a good extra resource.”
We are looking for real-projects from businesses that our students can work on. Email us at edgehub@canterbury.ac.uk to start the conversation.
Keep up to date
There are many ways for you to keep up to date with the latest developments in engineering, technology, design, and the EDGE Hub at Canterbury Christ Church University, including through social media, the EDGE Hub newsletter, and the engineering blog.
Engineering blog: blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/engineering
Engineering Twitter account: www.twitter.com/cccuedgehub
University website: www.canterbury.ac.uk/engineering
Email: edgehub@canterbury.ac.uk