12


Spring 2011 Issue 12


Engaging with education


By connecting with students at all levels of education, General Dynamics UK is ensuring access to the engineering talent that is key to its business


Engineering skills are the foundation on which companies such as General Dynamics UK are built. So it’s essential to ensure that those skills are readily available and are constantly being developed.


That’s why General Dynamics UK reaches out to education, nurturing and encouraging future generations of engineers. And it’s also why it supports its current employees in developing their careers as professional engineers.


“There is a competition for talent,” says Neil Taylor, director of engineering at General Dynamics UK. “There is a challenge to get skilled people into your organisation.”


Starting early The Company has a number of targeted interventions, engaging with students at critical points to raise awareness of the career possibilities that engineering offers. The first of these is at secondary school level where General Dynamics UK works in concert with the Engineering Education Scheme (EES). The Company now has relationships with two schools in Wales – Cwmcarn and Bassaleg – through EES Wales, and also with Bexhill College in Sussex.


A number of people within General Dynamics UK have become Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) ambassadors. These are people who are passionate about engineering and keen to transfer that enthusiasm to students.


They are joined by other volunteers who are on tap to participate in events at schools targeted by STEM. This is helping to build a sense of


General Dynamics UK’s work with universities gives it access to the best graduates


community, particularly among the younger engineers.


“We’ve also got an emergent partnership with the Smallpeice Trust,” says Taylor, “which delivers day courses and residential courses for students in the 10-18 age range. Last year, they exposed about 17,000 young people to engineering as a career. We’re providing input and offering our services for the residential courses, aimed at 16-18 year olds.” General Dynamics UK is also looking at how it might work with the Smallpeice Trust on day courses.


One of the strengths the Company has to offer students is a genuine experience of what engineering is like in the real world. For example, on work placement schemes, students do not simply observe, nor are they given arbitrary tasks. They are put to work on realistic, real- world projects. Recently, students from a Welsh school were tasked with designing a perimeter security system, while another group worked on pipeline smart surveillance. This work draws directly on the experience, capabilities and technology in which General Dynamics UK is engaged every day.


www.generaldynamics.uk.com


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