Newbury and Windsor: £1.24m awarded to Berkshire colleges to create solutions labs

Newbury College and East Berkshire College’s Windsor Campus have been awarded £1.24m to develop new resources in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and high-spec solutions labs based at both colleges.
The investment is a result of two successful bids from Newbury College and East Berkshire College to the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund. The successful bids were for £333,333 and £906,666 respectively, with match funding of 2:1 from both colleges.

The solutions labs are designed to raise the quality and profile of STEM provision across Thames Valley Berkshire so that STEM education responds to the needs of the local economy. They will create resources that are currently unavailable within the colleges; developing excellence  in  business  research  and  development;  innovation;  testing  and  development  of entrepreneurial skills; all to train individuals who can bring the products, skills and innovation required to stimulate the local economy.

The solutions labs will differ from each other in terms of their focus. At  Newbury  College,  the  lab  will  be  oriented  exclusively  to  fusion,  mechanical  and  electrical  engineering,  and  at  East Berkshire College, the focus will be on  engineering and science.

Peter Read, chairman of Thames Valley Berkshire LEP, said: “This is another intervention by the LEP, which spans two of the programmes in our Strategic Economic Plan (SEP); those of skills and of enterprise.

"This investment of Local Growth Funds comes hot on the heels of the first tranche of funding to be released for transport projects; nearly £29m across Thames Valley Berkshire, and a further injection of funding into our Business Growth Hub. The efforts of the LEP are now manifesting themselves as we move into the implementation of our SEP, using funds secured through our Growth Deal."

Dr Anne Murdoch OBE, principal of Newbury College, said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this support from the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP, via the Growth Deal, for our proposed solutions lab. This new facility will be a great addition for local employers who, along with Newbury College students, will use the lab to research and develop products for their own industries. The solutions lab will have very high-specification machinery which will help Newbury College research, design and manufacture components for a variety of local innovators. This facility is a great complement to Newbury College’s existing high-quality facilities which our students − who are the workforce of the future – can use to good effect.”

Kate Webb, principal at East Berkshire College, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP on the creation of a solutions lab at our Windsor College. Designed to inspire the next generation of inventors, designers and scientists, this facility will provide an innovative learning space to help students develop skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) to meet the needs of local employers and produce a highly-skilled workforce for the future.”