A Midlands-based £9.5m skills centre for the automotive sector has been given a boost by the appointment of an operations manager to lead on its launch, planned for September 2018.
Lisa Bingley will take up the Operations Manager role on the development of the MIRA Technology Institute (MTI), designed to develop specialist skills for the global automotive industry.
Construction work started on the training facility at the MIRA Technology Park in Nuneaton in September 2017, and is due to open its doors in 2018. The MIRA Technology Institute is being developed with the help of government growth funding and is expected to become a global centre of excellence, helping to nurture specialist skills in new disruptive technology areas such as electrification and driverless cars, ensuring a sustainable supply of future technical specialists and engineers.
The project is led by North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College and HORIBA MIRA, working closely with a collaboration of key partners including Coventry University, Loughborough University, and the University of Leicester.
Lisa joins the MTI on a secondment to North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College from HORIBA MIRA, where she is currently a Programme Manager across a range of large programmes. Lisa is due to take up the appointment with immediate effect, working to ensure that the centre’s training provision delivers the vision to provide key skills development to the local, national and international automotive and transport sectors. She will report to the North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College and MTI Operations Board, which consists of senior level representatives from key partner organisations.
Lisa said: “The MIRA Technology Institute will provide an answer to the real skills challenge we have in the automotive industry and I’m thrilled to be a part of its creation. I look forward to working with the project partners to bring the MTI to life and provide a centre of excellence for the development of automotive skills.”
Marion Plant OBE, Principal and Chief Executive of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, said: “I am delighted with the appointment of Lisa Bingley to the role of operations manager for the MIRA Technology Institute. Her experience and skills mean that she is well-placed to lead this exciting project, designed to transform the skills supply, particularly at high levels, to the automotive industry.
“I very much look forward to working with her in what will be an exciting year ahead as we move towards the launch of the MTI.”
The MTI is being created to help to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for specialist skills in the automotive sector highlighted in research by the Leicester & Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) to identify future skills needs.
The project offers a unique solution aligned with the Government’s new Industrial Strategy by creating a technology institute focused in the automotive sector. It is being funded with £9.5m from the Leicester and Leicestershire LEP Growth Deal Fund, and is backed by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Developing talented apprentices right through to qualified engineers, the MTI will bridge the skills gap across the automotive sector with relevant expertise and qualifications, providing students and apprentices with a ‘ladder of opportunity’ up to level 8 (PhD level).
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