The MIRA Technology Institute appeared on BBC East Midlands Today on Thursday 19th October 2023.
The MIRA Technology Institute is a unique partnership between North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC), as the lead partner, HORIBA MIRA our industry partner, Coventry University, Loughborough University, and the University of Leicester. It was built with £9.5M investment from the Government’s Local Growth Fund via the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) after research showed rising demand for specialist technical skills across the automotive sector.
The BBC visited our facility to interview us about the demand for EV skills in the automotive industry.
We currently have delegates from Jaguar Land Rover being taught EV skills who were also interviewed about women in automotive and green skills.
Watch below:
BBC East Midlands reports:
A technology college in South Leicestershire is warning there is an impeding shortage of trained mechanics for electric vehicles.
The MIRA Technology Institute says there’s a big demand for EV skills in the industry and their courses are attracting all kinds of students from around the country.
Sally Bowman, Environment Correspondent reports:
Forget oil soaked overalls and greasy inspection pits, this is an EV workshop, where fossil fuels are forgotten. The next generation of students drawn to MIRA Technology Institute’s new automotive courses are from industry and beyond.
Milly Earle, Senior Thermofluids Engineer at JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) says “Over the 8 year I’ve been at JLR there’s been an increase in women coming in and I went from a team of being sort of the only women, especially on the apprenticeship there was about 10% women. The cohorts they’re getting in now are 20, 30, 40 percent women.”
Amy de la Harpe, Graduate trainee at JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) says “The way the world’s moving at the moment, we are moving over to clean and green energy, especially in electric vehicles. And as I said with innovation there’s a lot of research still to do so I think it’s a really exciting time to be part of the company”
Our trainees aren’t going to be short of work. There are warning everyone of an impending shortage of qualified technicians who can repair and maintain all these new electric vehicles. The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) predicts we’ll be short 37,500 technicians by 2030.
Lisa Bingley, Operations Director at MIRA Technology Institute states “With electric cars, we’re focusing away from mechanical systems onto electrical systems. There’s a different cleaner, greener focus for electrical systems.”
Marion Plant, Principal of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College states “We have hundreds of students and apprentices training in the servicing, maintenance and recovery. We’re looking ahead to the new incoming energy sources such as hydrogen, particularly in the logistics sector and we are now already training young people and particularly up and reskilling adults into that new technology.”
With experienced students awarded salaries of up to £40,000, it’s perhaps no surprise there’s no shortage of applicants.
To find out more about how to access flexible training options visit
www.miratechnologyinstitute.ac.uk
or email enquiries@mti.ac.uk
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