The TTE Technical Institute has established a new partnership with Durham University to provide engineering undergraduates with practical skills and experience.
The new two-year agreement will see first year General Engineering Degree students attend TTE’s training centre in Middlesbrough where they will take part in the Professional Engineers Applications Course (PEAC).
The first group of 160 Durham University Engineering Department students will attend TTE in June.
Among the modules are a number of vocational sessions where the students will gain hand-on, practical experience across several key manufacturing techniques. The training will focus on the operation, testing and fault-finding of electrical, mechanical and hydraulic systems.
Training in TTE’s industry-standard workshops, the students will also gain a practical understanding of health and safety issues and practices, as well as legislative requirements within the engineering industry. This will be underpinned by a visit to a large North East engineering company premises.
In addition to using TTE’s training facilities and equipment, the students will benefit from the support of TTE’s expert training professionals who deliver technical training and upskilling courses for large, multi-national companies in sectors including oil and gas, chemical & process and manufacturing.
The new PEAC programme strengthens the relationship between TTE and Durham University. Beginning in 2004, the two organisations collaborated on the delivery of a graduate development programme to Nigeria LNG for 130 engineering and technical professionals to operate the company’s facility on Bonny Island, West Africa.
Steve Grant, Chief Executive of the TTE Technical Institute, said: “To be selected by one of the world’s top 100 universities to deliver this vocational programme is a significant endorsement of the expertise, experience and facilities we provide at the TTE Technical Institute.
“This programme will provide the students with a greater awareness and understanding of practical engineering, working with our internationally-experienced trainers and using equipment commonplace in industry around the world, which will benefit them in the future studies and careers.”
Associate Professor Grant Ingram, Director of Education for Engineering at Durham University said: “I am delighted that the University is once again partnering with TTE to deliver an excellent, all round educational experience. Durham University delivers an Engineering course as an integrated subject, which means that our graduates are modern engineers who are capable of solving problems across the traditional engineering boundaries. The applications course delivered by TTE allows our students to experience engineering practice in an industrial setting. This provides an essential and valuable learning experience as they develop the competencies required of the next generation of engineers.”
Photograph: TTE’s Alan Stevenson (left) and Associate Professor Grant Ingram (right) at Durham University