Listen to Chris Davies on BBC Northampton talking about Industrial Fellowship Scheme and KTENS https://ikegroup.org/uploads/news/NorthamptonCollege.mp3
Lecturers at Northampton College are set to benefit from a special charity grant, it has been announced.
The college has been awarded the Industrial Fellowship Grant by the New Engineering Foundation (NEF) - a charity that supports the development of vocational education in science, engineering and technology.
The grant is part of a nationwide scheme to allow lecturers in further education colleges to spend more time in local companies on an advisory basis.
It is hoped the move will help lecturers improve on their knowledge and skills to share with students in the classroom.
Chris Davies, faculty head of Technology and Enterprise at Northampton College, said: "For many years we have been acting informally advising local employers and helping them resolve problems and issues within their organisations.
"However, this new funding boost will enable us to catalyse involvement with employers with a strong engineering focus.
"With work-link mentors in place pairing up skilled staff in the college with counterparts in employment we will be able to develop more opportunities for employers and experienced college staff to share knowledge of issues such as renewable energy, nanotechnology and manufacturing processes."
NEF chief executive Sa'ad Medhat added: "A few years ago the NEF carried out a major piece of field research which revealed an almost total absence of formal professional development for FE college lecturers in science, engineering and technology.
"In an industry where things move very fast, lecturers had virtually no exposure to the latest developments in the field. We set up the Industrial Fellowship Scheme in response to this problem.
"Since then hundreds of FE lecturers across the country have taken part, and thousands of students have benefited. We're very pleased to welcome Northampton College to the Fellowship. I am sure that they will find the experience rewarding."
