Uni welcomes the President of the IMechE
Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:03:00 GMT
IMechE regional visit concludes at the University
President of the IMechE, Professor Isobel Pollock, is pictured above with the University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan [centre], alongside IMechE representatives Denis Healy [far left], Andrew Hamilton [second left] and Ken Ball [far right]
THE President of one of the world’s oldest and most respected engineering organisations paid a fact-finding visit to West Yorkshire to see how the region’s manufacturing industry is meeting current economic and technological challenges.
Every year the President of the IMechE visits regions to witness the achievements of firms and universities in the engineering field. The President visited Kirklees College and two local companies, VTL and Score, before completing her visit at the University of Huddersfield.
Professor Pollock is the 127th President of the IMechE and has vast experience of industry and the academic world. In 1995, she chaired the IMechE’s Yorkshire Branch, when it was voted Branch of the Year. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was founded in 1847 and its first presidents were the legendary railway and locomotive builders George and Robert Stephenson.
At the University of Huddersfield, Dr Simon Barrans, who is a Fellow of the IMechE and is the subject leader of a thriving mechanical engineering degree course, helped to organise Professor Pollock’s visit.
The University of Huddersfield – home to a major new innovation centre – was chosen as the venue where a wide range of regional industrialists could meet the President.
She also inspected the University of Huddersfield’s facilities and was impressed by the new £12.5 million 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, which will provide office space and research facilities for a large number of firms, from start-ups to major corporations, who will also be able to tap into the research expertise of the University.
Professor Pollock said: “I was delighted to have the chance to visit the University of Huddersfield, and see firsthand the tremendous facilities engineering students have at their disposal.
“Mechanical engineering courses can lead to exciting and challenging careers in a variety of industries, ranging from medical engineering to aerospace, rail and automotive engineering. I wish the students, and the University, all the very best for the future.”
Honorary doctorate
Professor Pollock was welcomed by University of Huddersfield Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan, who called for a return to the time when engineers and innovators were among the most valued and respected members of society and he admired the role of the IMechE in attempting to bring this about. He recalled that Professor Pollock had been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Huddersfield in 2004, and it was good to welcome her back.
He said that engineering graduates of the University enjoyed very high levels of employability and this demonstrated that Britain still had a thriving, innovative engineering sector that was crying out for new talent.
“I am a passionate advocate of the role that universities such as ours must play in economic regeneration, and one of our key contributions is to develop the UK skills base in vital areas such as mechanical engineering,” added Professor Cryan, who also outlined some of the research in advanced manufacturing that was taking place at the University of Huddersfield.
