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Doctorate boost for renewable energy engineering skills Three universities and s ...

Doctorate boost for renewable energy engineering skills Three universities and several industry partners have combined forces to provide training for up to 50 of the best engineering students as part of a new Industrial Doctorate Centre in Offshore Renewable Energy (IDCORE). The £6.5mn investment to deliver a new generation of engineering leaders in renewable energy was announced by the Business Secretary Vince Cable. Working alongside global companies such as EDF Energy, Shell and Rolls-Royce, the students will be trained in the most innovative future technologies from designing cost-efficient new wind turbine blades to testing the latest wave energy technology at facilities such as those at Edinburgh University. The engineers will also be trained to understand the needs of business and develop their entrepreneurial skills alongside boosting their research and technical skills. The first graduates, who are expected to begin their training in January 2012, will gain an Engineering Doctorate. The new Centre will be funded through the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Training will be delivered by Edinburgh, Strathclyde and Exeter universities, together with the Scottish Association for Marine Science and consultancy HR-Wallingford. Companies taking part include EDF Energy, BP, Caterpillar, E.ON, Rolls Royce and Shell. Meanwhile, Furness Enterprise and Furness College, based in Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria, are collaborating with a specialist training provider, wind farm developers, energy companies and turbine manufacturers, to create a centre of excellence for developing offshore wind skills. So far major players such as REpower, Vattenfall and Dong have been involved with the scheme. Much of the work at Furness to date has focused on marine based sectors, from oil and gas to ship and submarine building. The renewable energy sector is considered the next step in this process of industry collaboration and skills development. The wind farm development at Ormonde will be the first major offshore wind project to take advantage of the scheme. Furness College has set up the Furness Skills Forum for Environmental Technologies to enable the College to engage with local and national employers, schools and education providers, to facilitate networking opportunities, identify skill shortages and develop relevant training courses. As part of a £42mn pound redevelopment initiative now underway at Furness College, a National Wind Training Centre has also been established to provide hands on specialist training for offshore wind sector workforces, graduates and trainees. Technical courses are being run by National Wind Farm Training Centre with additional programmes and qualifications being run through Furness Training.
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