Rising tuition fees in England could prevent highly talented young people from going to university due to the huge costs and no guarantee of employment after graduation.
This presents food and drink manufacturers with a real opportunity to take
collective action now to secure a sufficient flow of highly talented
engineering
graduates into the food and drink manufacturing industry.
That is why a MEng Food Engineering degree course is being developed by the
Food and Drink Federation; the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink and
Sheffield Hallam University with co-investment from the UK Commission for
Employment
and Skills through the Employer Investment Fund.
- What is Graduate Excellence?
- Why are we doing this?
- What we want to achieve
- Who are we?
- Who’s already involved?
- Get involved
- Follow our tweets
What is Graduate Excellence?
Graduate Excellence is a project that will create the UK’s first accredited
engineering degree at
Master’s level dedicated entirely to the needs of food and drink manufacturing.
The MEng Food Engineering is being developed for the industry, by the
industry, and will create a pool of specialist engineers equipped to meet the
specific
needs of the sector. First entrants on the course will begin in September 2014.
To enhance the delivery of the degree, support from industry and funding
agencies is currently being sought to develop a Centre of Excellence for food
engineering. The Centre would have state of the art facilities and enable
students on
the course to be exposed to the latest technological developments.
The development of new engineering talent, working on innovative projects in
industry, will position the UK as a global leader in food engineering enabling
our industry to be at the cutting-edge of new and emerging technologies.
Why are we doing this?
To achieve the food and drink industry’s shared vision with Government to grow
by 20% by
2020, we know that we need to attract the best talent. Engineering is one of
the
most vital
specialisms required to increase automation and plant reliability in our
industry. However, there
is currently no university provision in the UK for food and drink engineering,
meaning that
new graduates require extensive training on the specific requirements of
working
in the food
industry.
What we want to achieve
The MEng Food Engineering will develop the next generation of our industry’s
advanced
engineers and leaders.
Our graduates will:
- Fully understand the food supply chain
- Be passionate champions of our industry
- Have the technical expertise to design and develop new systems to meet future
challenges - Transform UK food and drink manufacturing by increasing the use of robotics and
automation - Have the business skills required to make the case for investment to drive
productivity - Be specialists who can work with and lead others to develop concepts and make
them happen - Be sophisticated engineers that other sectors look to with envy
- Value their role and that of their colleagues as part of a team
- Be the food industry leaders of tomorrow.
Who are we?
The Graduate Excellence partnership consists of the Food and Drink Federation,
the National Skills Academy for food and drink and Sheffield Hallam University,
where the degree will be delivered. The degree has also received co-investment
from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills through the Employer
Investment
Fund.
However, fundamental to the success of Graduate Excellence is support from
employers across our industry. We are calling on food and drink manufacturers
to
get involved with the project and
support it in any way they can.
Who’s already involved?
A number of leading food and drink manufacturers are already onboard.
View the full list of companies.
Get involved
There are many ways food and drink companies can get involved. Some of the
options include:
- Nominating specialist colleagues to participate in one of the Graduate
Excellence development groups focusing on the degree’s curriculum, marketing or
human
resources - Working with Sheffield Hallam University to recruit highcalibre people into the
industry - Offering a bursary or scholarship
- Providing a guest lecture to inspire potential team leaders of the future
- Offering work placements as part of the degree
- Agreeing to employ Graduate Excellence graduates (subject to final references
and grades) - Working with suppliers to donate new or nearly new
equipment for our Centre of Excellence in Food Engineering
Watch video: Richard Martin (Nestlé UK) talks about why businesses should get involved with
Graduate Excellence
Graduate Excellence: Menu of options form
Fiona Kendrick, Chairman and CEO Nestlé UK & Ireland (FDF Competitiveness
Steering Group Chair) said:
“At Nestlé, one of the biggest challenges we face is recruiting the best talent
for our business. Our success depends on our ability to remain competitive and
innovate however a lack of
engineering and technical expertise will hold our
industry back.
Graduate Excellence is a ground-breaking initiative which will equip
graduates
with the technical skills and commercial acumen our industry needs. It is an
opportunity for food manufacturers to take control of their future and help
shape a
pipeline of talent. A number of companies, including Nestlé, have already
committed their support in a range of ways but I urge companies of all sizes to
get
involved.”
Find out more
To pledge your support or to find out more please contact: [email protected] or call 020 7420 7107.
Follow our tweets
Follow us at @Foodanddrinkfed. If you want to catch up with our launch event tweets, then simply search
Twitter by for the
hash tag #foodengineering.
More Information
- Case studies on engineering graduates in the food and drink industry
- Graduate Excellence pledge companies talk about why businesses should get
involved with the project - Presentations from the Graduate Excellence launch event 7th February 2013
- Launch Event photos can be found on the FDF Flickr page
- Graduate Excellence: Menu of options form
- FDF’s careers campaign: Taste Success – A Future in Food
- Careers case studies
- UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES)
- Presentation: Angela Coleshill, Human Resources Director, FDF
- Presentation: Nestlé’s Approach to Attracting the Best
Notes:
[1] Student exodus could leave university cities ‘ghost towns’ by 2020
Leave your details if you would like more information about the MEng Food
Engineering degree
Last reviewed: 04 Apr 2014
- Four year course
- Sheffield Hallam University
- Course starts in 2014
The MEng food engineering degree course will provide students with everything
they need to secure a coveted graduate role with UK’s leading food and drinks
manufacturers.
Find out more about MEng Food Engineering – www.foodengineer.co.uk
Download the student campaign brochure – pdf | 248kb
Download the poster – pdf | 344kb
40 companies have pledged their support, including work placements, for the food
engineering degree course.
These companies include:
- ABP UK part of the ABP Food Group
- apetito
- Ardo UK Ltd
- Arla Foods
- Burton’s Biscuit Company
- Cargill
- Coca-Cola Enterprises
- Dalehead Foods
- F.Duerr & Sons
- Fine Lady Bakeries Limited
- Finsbury Foods
- Fosters Bakery (Staincross) Limited
- General Mills
- Kavli UK Ltd
- KP Snacks
- Maple Leaf Foods
- Mars
- McCain Foods
- Mondeléz International
- Muller UK and Ireland Group LLP
- Nestlé UK
- New England Seafood
- New Primebake and Bakavoor
- Nom Dairy
- PepsiCo UK
- Pork Farms
- Premier Foods
- Silver Spoon, AB World Foods and Jordans & Ryvita
- Simpsons Ready Foods Ltd
- Tate and Lyle Sugars
- United Biscuits
- Warburtons
- William Jackson Food Group
Bob Spooner (Premier Foods)
Watch the video
Richard Martin (Nestlé UK)
Watch the video
See what young engineering graduates have to say about engineering and working
in our industry