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• Scheme addresses critical UK skills gap with funding support and direct links with companies.
GKN Aerospace is among a group of leading UK aerospace manufacturers sponsoring a new government /industry initiative to encourage graduates to extend their studies in aerospace engineering.
The new £6m bursary, which is jointly funded by government and industry through the UK’s Aerospace Growth Partnership (AGP), will support 500 new graduates and employees as they study Masters (MSc) level degrees in aerospace engineering.
The goal of the initiative is to encourage talented people who would like to build a career in aerospace but who need financial backing to be able to continue their studies at Masters level. It will support both current aerospace employees who are already qualified to graduate level and BSc students currently studying at university. Participating individuals will make direct links with aerospace businesses and undertake projects as part of their studies that address real issues faced by industry. The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Aeronautical Society will together run a competition that will allocate these bursaries.
Marcus Bryson, Chief Executive, GKN Aerospace and Land Systems and Co-Chair of the Aerospace Growth Partnership comments: “This is a scheme that UK industry and Government have been absolutely determined to introduce. It joins a number of initiatives now underway that, in various ways, address the serious engineering skills gap we face in this country. This bursary scheme will offer genuine financial support to individuals, extending the pool of people who are able to continue their engineering studies and who then move in to the industry as their career”.
Bryson continues: “In the UK we can be proud of a world-leading aerospace sector that is second only in scale to the United States. Aerospace is a market that is predicted to grow significantly in the coming decades but there is increasing global competition – including from some new quarters. If we are to maintain and grow our market share then we must develop a new generation of engineers with the critical skills and the innovative thinking to help us compete and win new business.”
UK companies sponsoring the scheme are: BAE Systems, Bombardier Aerospace Belfast, EADS/Airbus, Finmeccanica UK, GKN, MBDA Missile Systems, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, Rolls-Royce and Spirit AeroSystems.
For more information on the bursary go to www.raeng.org.uk/aeromsc