How is NMITE unlocking government support for businesses seeking to deliver innovation-led growth?

What does NMITE do and why is it important?

NMITE was founded to challenge the status quo with two main aims: firstly, to change the way engineers are taught and to produce graduate engineers who are work-ready and able to add value for their employers from day one. Engineering employers have long complained that graduates do not have the right skills to work effectively. Secondly, NMITE aims to drive the economic regeneration of a left behind region, our home county of Herefordshire (NMITE is in the city of Hereford) by producing more graduates locally – addressing critical skills shortages and providing opportunities for young people to find new routes into high value jobs.

We’re different because we put more real-world engineering into the programme rather than relying on traditional lectures. This delivers a completely different, hands-on experience for students and prepares them for work at an early stage of their career.

Given Innovate UK's Knowledge Base status, how is NMITE unlocking government support for businesses seeking to deliver innovation-led growth?

NMITE, becoming the first institution in the county ever to hold this Knowledge Base status, is an important moment for Herefordshire’s business and skills market and will unlock new opportunities for regional innovation and growth. This is further proof for Herefordshire of the benefits of having NMITE, a specialist technical university achieving national recognition in its midst. NMITE’s status and growing reputation is now unlocking government support for local businesses, proving the positive knock-on effect of a high calibre academic institution, not just for local students, but for the wider economy.

Our graduates have been trained to apply engineering theory in real-world contexts. That combination of academic rigour and practical know-how presents a great opportunity for NMITE and local businesses to drive innovation and economic growth together which is incredibly exciting. For a rural county like Herefordshire, often underserved in terms of access to high-level technical expertise, the KTP programme presents an opportunity for local companies to access fresh talent, advanced research, and expert guidance — all aimed at boosting productivity, driving innovation, and stimulating economic growth.

With final year student projects covering areas such as drones; a mechatronics attachment to a syringe to facilitate precise drug measurement; deployable mesh networks and low-cost robotics, Herefordshire-based companies can benefit hugely from the potential offered by this new KTP programme.

What has been the feedback from those businesses who are taking on NMITE Graduates? Likewise, what has been the feedback from the students?

We’re delighted that 100% of our first cohort of graduates seeking work found jobs at highly respected global firms including BAE Systems, Mondelez, Kier, Balfour Beatty and Rehau, to name just a few.

Sam Whitby, one of the first graduates from NMITE in September 2024, was recruited by OXA, one of the world’s leading companies in autonomous driving technology and artificial intelligence. Now he is working as part of a team that could transform the Port of Rotterdam, the largest container port in Europe. Sam suggests that what sets NMITE apart from other universities is the combination of rigorous and high-paced learning which played a key role in his successful application to OXA.

"I graduated with a First Class Master’s Degree from NMITE in just three years. NMITE equipped me not only with the theoretical and practical knowledge needed to thrive at OXA, but also with the professional teamwork and communication skills to communicate effectively with very different audiences. This happened in less than six months since I left NMITE - I could never have imagined I would be doing this so quickly."

Paul Newman, Professor of Information Engineering at Oxford University and Chief Technology Officer, OXA, comments: "NMITE is pioneering a very effective way to train new engineers. We at OXA have recruited very successfully from NMITE, and I hope we recruit a lot more of their students in future."

Balfour Beatty is another company which recruited another of NMITE’s first graduates, Elise Cummings. Balfour Beatty partners with NMITE and has been actively helping the curriculum – which is designed to mirror real-world working environments – with its experts talking to students and engaging them in projects to enhance their practical experience and arm them with critical skills and industry knowledge. Balfour Beatty believes that through its partnership with NMITE it is successfully helping to open doors to young people and arming them with the tools needed to excel in their careers.

What is your advice for students looking to follow in the same path? Why should they consider NMITE - why are you unique?

Today’s graduates face a world that is more complex and troubled than ever with problems that don’t have any easy answer. They are stepping into problems that don’t come with easy solutions or sometimes without any solution at all. NMITE’s unique hands on and rigorous education model tries to prepare students to work in this level of ambiguity, to be used to that uncomfortable feeling of not knowing, to ask better questions and not just reach for the simplest answer. NMITE works with industry partners to provide hands on learning to replicate real-world situations and solve complex problems in collaboration with industry and learning by doing. This practical experience and questioning mindset are skills the world badly needs.

Employers, and the world, are not waiting patiently. The challenges are real: the climate emergency, inequality, the ethics of technology. Our graduates don’t pretend to have all the answers, but are willing to hear different views, to ask better questions, and have the grit to get moving when others just want to talk.

With the growth of NMITE and after celebrating the recent Graduation Ceremony for founding students, has NMITE’s success met or exceeded your expectations?

This year’s graduation ceremony was just the first marker of a major milestone on NMITE’s journey and with 100% of students finding good jobs, it is a strong indication that our model really works. There is still a huge need for specialist science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills in the UK, and with this year’s cohort of NMITE graduates, we’re helping to plug the gap.

NMITE was built on an ambitious vision - a belief that engineering education could be reimagined, that learning could be transformed and that our students could become the engineers and problem-solvers of tomorrow through an entirely new approach. Imitation is the best form of flattery and for us to truly succeed, we hope to see other universities around the country share our vision, copy our model and enjoy similar success.

We are well on the way to proving that even small cities with little Higher Education tradition can be active centres of learning and ambition and we wish to see other new small and agile university models popping up across the country. NMITE’s current success has met my expectations and the path we are on indicates that my expectations could well be exceeded as the NMITE vision catches on.

What's coming up for NMITE and how do you see NMITE growing?

We are working towards NMITE being recognised as a National Centre for Excellence in Education for engineering and technology. We will always be small by design and are not looking to be a big university - smaller institutions are more "agile" and this has been lost from the current university market. We believe universities should be established in smaller cities and towns to drive economic growth in rural areas. It’s about no young person being left behind, no matter where they might come from.

Our vision is to continue growing at the right speed for us and our students and to continue to build on our current levels of innovation. With the current university system in the UK facing huge pressures, it’s very important for us to provide this unique technical education and engineering pathway, proving that there is a need for disruption in the higher education establishment.

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M4S TAKE

My take: AI claims need scrutiny. The useful implementations reduce cycle time or defect rates in measurable ways. Vague promises about 'optimization' without specific metrics are usually marketing.

Simon McLoughlin