Campus close-up: New Model in Technology and Engineering

The cathedral city of Hereford might not seem the obvious place to locate a state-of-the-art engineering university. Situated just 16 miles from the Welsh border in the rural West of England, it is a long way from the UK’s traditional manufacturing heartlands.

But the picturesque city of around 60,000 people, mostly associated with the livestock and cider-making industries, is the ideal place for a new technology university, insists the group of about 25 local businesspeople and academics behind the enterprise.

The New Model in Technology and Engineering, which aims to open in 2017, will be located in the middle of a cluster of small- and medium-sized manufacturing businesses thriving in Herefordshire, the group says.

These firms make products related to the food and farming industries, renewable energy and defence (a major long-term employer in the county thanks to the presence of several military bases there, including the 18th Signals Regiment and the Special Air Service).

“All these companies are suffering from a lack of engineers,” says David Sheppard, one of the leaders of the Herefordshire Tertiary Education Trust, which is trying to raise £20 million for the project.

The new institution would provide the highly skilled workforce required by these companies if they are to expand, he adds.

“I have lived in the North East, so I have seen the impact of Newcastle, Durham, Teesside and Cumbria universities, which have transformed the area’s commercial prospects,” he says. “Just look at what has happened to Lincoln since the university moved there.”

This is no pipe dream of well-meaning town burghers keen to boost their local economy: the institution has won serious backing, and is currently in discussions with the University of Warwick about the awarding of its degrees and the University of Bristol has pledged the involvement of its staff.

Chancellor George Osborne has backed the project, too, tweeting on 12 February that he “will support development of major new uni in Hereford”. He added that he had asked Greg Clark, the universities minister, to look into it.

However, whether the Osborne tweet will lead to the investment the university needs or was simply a pre-election favour to his Tory colleague Jesse Norman, the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, remains to be seen.

It is certainly the case that UK funding councils and the government are not dishing out the £10 million-£20 million grants they did 10 years ago to tackle so-called higher education “cold spots”.

Some may also question whether it is feasible to start an engineering university – let alone a research-intensive one, as the Herefordshire Tertiary Education Trust hopes – given the expensive equipment and buildings required to teach the discipline.

The university will require at least £50 million by the end of the decade if it is to meet its target of 4,000 students.

Karen Usher, a local businesswoman and co-leader of the project, believes it can be done, citing the case of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. Olin, a small private university in Massachusetts founded in 1997 and accredited 10 years later, has quickly established a strong reputation for hands-on engineering teaching.

She hopes that the institution will emulate Olin’s approach, in which students undertake research-based projects in their final year, often winning jobs at top US companies.

“Olin is now recognised as one of the leading teachers of engineering in the world and its graduates are earning $15,000 to $20,000 [£10,200 to £13,600] a year more than the national average for engineering graduates, as reported by the National Association of Colleges and Employers,” she says.

The Hereford initiative is seeking support from the UK government, the European Union and philanthropic donors, although it would do well to match the nearly $500 million endowment that made Olin possible.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com