CAPTURING IMAGINATIONS OF THE FUTURE

In a move which the drives specialist says signals its commitment to shaping the next generation of industrial engineers, ABB has invested almost £1 million and signed a 10- year agreement with Imperial College London to support a new carbon capture pilot plant teaching facility at the university’s central London campus.

According to the college the logistic and economic advantages of online studying are making distance learning an increasingly attractive option for students, so the pressure is on for academic institutions to provide a compelling case for students to embrace campus learning.

Using a combination of ABB’s instrumentation, drives, motors and process automation equipment, the control room at Imperial College provides students with hands-on experience of pilotscale industrial plant operations.

The pilot plant, which is said to be the only facility of its kind in an academic institution in the world, will be used in undergraduate teaching with the aim of equipping students with the practical skills needed for a career in industry.

The agreement between ABB and Imperial gives the university access to some of the most advanced control and instrumentation technology available, as well as life cycle services and support for the installation. In return, ABB has access to the carbon capture pilot plant and will use the facility for customer demonstrations and training, staff learning such as inter-divisional training, hands-on experience for its apprentices and product testing and software evaluation.

ABB is also providing four summer placements of eight to ten weeks per annum in its UK operations and a summer placement in Brisbane, Australia will be awarded to a student on the university’s exchange programme, after spending their third undergraduate year in Australia.

One final year student will be selected from previous summer students to have their final year tuition fees paid by ABB.

SUPPORTING UK ENGINEERING

 ABB’s involvement in the project is aimed at raising the awareness among chemical engineering graduates of the benefits of a career in control and instrumentation engineering.

"By investing in the pilot plant and the awards, we are effectively investing in our own future, by making sure that ABB will have ready access to a stream of bright young engineers,” says Martin Grady, general manager, Oil, Gas and Petrochemical - UK, ABB.

"One of our biggest problems is finding enough suitably qualified engineers to fill the ever growing range of opportunities we can offer.

Obviously if engineering in the UK flourishes, then we flourish too.

"The move by ABB is partly in response to government initiatives aimed at rebuilding the manufacturing base of the UK and re-establishing the important contribution that engineering makes to people’s everyday lives.

The UK needs to increase its base of skilled engineers if it is to grow its manufacturing sector towards its potential. We believe that the pilot plant will support education by giving tomorrow’s engineers hands-on exposure to real-life technology. This pilot plant really brings the real world into the classroom for the first time.”