West Midlands Mayor Andy Street officially opened the
Greater Birmingham and Solihull Institute of Technology (GBSIoT) earlier this month, before touring the facility and being given a demonstration its new Cyber Physical Manufacturing Rig (Cyber Rig) – a scaled-down factory of the future – the largest in Europe.
Dr Chao Liu and Dr Muftooh Siddiqi, lecturers at
Aston University, spoke about their plans to integrate the Cyber Rig into the curriculum, along with creating a specific manufacturing course Aston University developed around it, which will begin in September 2023.
Sharing the STEM schools plan, Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of
Millennium Point Trust, spoke to Andy Street about the STEM strategy for schools and the necessity to inspire children from a young age in a fun, interactive way. She stressed the importance of clarifying the landscape for teachers looking for support in the STEM space.
Millennium Point Trust is supporting GBSIoT alongside other local charities and community groups to create a simple STEM approach for schools in the region, and to showcase what is already available in an accessible way.
Mayor Andy Street said: “We all know it is mission critical to improve the skills of the workforce in the West Midlands so they can move into the high-quality jobs of the future. It is the cornerstone of my 100,000 jobs plan, and the new GBSIoT will help achieve exactly that.
“As a hub for technical education in engineering and advanced manufacturing, it will help make this key economic sector for the West Midlands accessible to all young people. Not only that, but it also has some world-class facilities, such as Cyber Rig, for students to benefit from. The GBSIoT is a fantastic addition to Birmingham and the West Midlands, and I am delighted it is now open.”
GBSIoT is one of 12 IoTs currently established across England as unique collaborations between further education colleges, universities and employers to offer technical education and training at higher skills levels in key STEM sectors.
The GBSIoT is designed to create a ‘powerhouse’ for advanced manufacturing and engineering and is a collaboration between further education providers, universities, and employers for the region.
The consortium is led by Solihull College and University Centre, with Aston University, Birmingham City University, and South and City College Birmingham as members, and supported by BMET College, University College Birmingham, and the University of Birmingham as partners.