Successful applicants for NMITE’s (New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering) ‘pioneer cohort’ will have their academic fees and accommodation costs covered in full for their first year, thanks to a group of funders.
The Hereford university will run a three-year master’s degree in integrated engineering. The institute aims to address what it calls a UK shortage of ‘work-ready’ graduate engineers through its unique approach, which will include a diverse range of disciplines and seek to replicate the professional experience of ‘getting the job done’.
The course “will focus on an integrated engineering programme to train and nurture learners ready to tackle global challenges – such as sustainable food production, access to safe water, and clean energy – which do not fall neatly into traditional mechanical, electrical or materials engineering boxes,” the university said.
Unlike other universities, NMITE will not require maths or physics A-levels from its engineering applicants, as the subjects will be taught within the curriculum. The university pledged to consider each application individually, “irrespective of the path they have travelled to get where they are today”. The institute said it is looking for “entrepreneurial and socially-minded individuals who want to change the world for the better”, and will evaluate applicants’ attitude, mindset and passion for engineering alongside qualifications.
The course will have no lectures or traditional exams, and will instead focus on ‘learning by doing’. Three-and-a-half week ‘sprints’ will focus on five main themes of engineering – integrated systems; electrical and electronic engineering; flow, heat and energy; materials and processes; and statics and dynamics. Students will use a range of engineering concepts to analyse problems and create solutions for real-world challenges, working in tutorials, seminars, practical work in NMITE studios and work with university partners.
Assessments are designed to reflect real workplace scenarios as much as possible, taking the form of studio quizzes, presentations and debates, display of artefacts students have created, industrial reports, development of specifications, test reports and project plans, creative media presentations, journal papers and ‘white papers’, and individual question-and-answer sessions.
The institution opened today after receiving validation from the Open University.
“I congratulate NMITE in launching an innovative model of high-level engineering education,” said universities minister Michelle Donelan. “This programme will not only provide valuable experience for graduates, but will help to boost growth in engineering, drive innovation and build the vital skills this country needs.”
Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, president and chief executive of NMITE, thanked her colleagues, funders and partners. She said: “Our attention now turns to the exciting task of inviting applications and meeting prospective learners. What 2020 has shown more than ever is that we need more work-ready engineers, and we are delighted that NMITE will be playing a role in educating engineers equipped to tackle global challenges.”
Jesse Norman, MP for Hereford and the first exponent of a new higher education institution in the city, said: “This is a transformative moment for our county and for our city. Eight hundred years ago Hereford was one of the great centres in Europe for mathematics and astronomy, and 800 years later we are opening NMITE to specialise in technology and engineering.
“But NMITE has huge implications not only for Herefordshire, but for the Marches and for the UK itself, as a new model of regeneration and development. What a fantastic future we have in front of us – a future of prosperity for everyone, a future for our young people, a future which lifts the county socially, culturally and economically.”
After the free first year for the 'pioneer cohort', tuition fees will be £7,200 per year.
For more information about applying to NMITE, visit the website.
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