Next-generation engineers: Engineering academy kicks off in Staffordshire

Next Engineers is focused on increasing the diversity of young people in engineering with Staffordshire as one of four global inaugural locations. 30 percent of the successful candidates identified as female, significantly higher than the professional engineering industry average of 14.5 percent. In addition, nearly 32 percent of applicants are from diverse ethnic groups. 
 
The successful candidates, set to take part in the bespoke three-year further education programme, have come from 22 different schools across Staffordshire, Cheshire and the West Midlands. GE Foundation’s local partner, Connectr, will be providing the Year 11 students with first-hand experiences of engineering, helping them to think and act like engineers, and equipping them with the core skills they’ll need to enter further education. The programme has been designed to integrate with each student’s existing studies. 
 
Over the next three years, students will be taken through immersive engineering design challenges, career coaching and workshops, and visit some GE sites. Based at Staffordshire University’s Stoke campus, students will have access to industry-leading technology, equipment and expertise within the Power and Renewable Energy sector to fuel their engineering ambition.
 
GE has over 125 years of experience in the U.K. and Ireland, employing approximately 8,500 across the region. Kevin O’Neill, President & CEO of GE UK & Ireland, comments: “Next Engineers will provide a platform for young people from different backgrounds to bring their unique perspectives to engineering. Engineering Academy will give young people the vital skills and knowledge required to pursue a career within engineering, whilst they begin thinking about their choice in higher education. I congratulate all the successful candidates who are now enrolled in our programme and look forward to witnessing the exciting journey they are about to undertake.” 

Along with Staffordshire, Next Engineers has launched in Cincinnati, Ohio and Greenville, South Carolina in the US, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Globally, the GE Foundation has partnered with FHI 360, an international non-profit working to improve the health and well-being of people around the world, to develop the program framework. 
 
For more information about the Engineering Academy, or to see what other opportunities the Next Engineers programme has to offer young people in Staffordshire and the surrounding areas, please visit https://www.nextengineers.org/cities/staffordshire.