Queen Mary has been awarded the maximum allocation of £5million of new funding by the government in order to create two new facilities on our Mile End campus.
The funding will be matched by QMUL and will provide new teaching spaces with a capacity of over 100 students. The investment will allow us to expand provision to many more students on high demand courses as well as adding new programmes such as intelligent robotics and engineering for biotechnology.
QMUL was selected to receive the funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England by a panel of experts featuring representatives of universities and businesses as part of its response to rising demand for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. As part of a comprehensive refurbishment of the Engineering Building a teaching laboratory with space for 80 students in the School of Engineering and Materials (SEMS) will provide an integrated hands-on learning experience. An instrumentation laboratory with a state-of-the-art large assembly robot and space for 25 students.
The Creative Engineering Hub, linking work in SEMS and the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science will significantly extend facilities for both postgraduate and undergraduate students and promote the engagement of the students using it with industry. QMUL combines industry involvement and concepts building with our distinctive expertise in engineering and design, aided by our proximity to the heart of the UK’s digital economy and creative industries in East London, to link students to greater employability. The new facilities will be ready for students to use in 2016.
Jeremy Kilburn, Vice-Principal (Science and Engineering), said, “These new facilities will not only allow us to continue to improve the teaching experience for our students and to bring even more students to QMUL to study areas of growing demand but will increase our ability to create rewarding links with industry.
“We’ve seen a surge in interest in STEM subjects and this investment will also increase our ability to teach cutting edge skills and make graduates ready for successful careers in a wide range of industries.”
Speaking about the HEFCE STEM teaching capital funding, Rt. Hon. Vince Cable MP, Secretary of State for Business Innovation and Skills, said, “Inspiring young people to take up STEM courses is vital to the success of the UK economy. This investment will mean world-class teaching facilities to build tomorrow’s skilled workforce.”
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