Tomorrow’s Engineers: The Apprentices Changing The Future Of Construction #TEWeek18

With Tomorrow’s Engineers Week 2018 underway, we’ve been taking a look at the inspirational young people we are training, to become some of the most successful digital engineers within the UK.

The Construction and Design Centre of Excellence (CADCOE) and its unique approach to education, means that the apprentices we work with are fast-tracking their careers and making an impact right now, on the skills shortage the industry is facing.

Tomorrow’s Engineers: Creating Their Very Own Construction Legacy

These same individuals are also gaining the opportunity to work on some of the most exciting and innovative construction projects the UK has ever seen. As we increasingly move towards a modular and offsite industry, the call for digital engineers is growing – this is presenting attractive prospects to those developing their careers through the CADCOE apprenticeship.

When we ask our apprentices, ‘so what is it about digital engineering for construction that is so attractive?’ the answers are always the same:

‘to be a part of the future of construction’

‘the chance to put my name to our city skylines’

‘I want to leave a legacy’

Take the apprentices that work for our sister company TDS for example, they are already playing their part in solving real issues whilst helping the UK to prosper, through digital engineering.

Lora and Adam, both just 17, have both worked on the designs and detailing for modular homes throughout London.

Cameron has worked on the structural designs for Manchester Airports new super terminal an incredible achievement at just 19 years of age.

Tomorrow’s Engineers: How Do We Continue to Attract Talent?

If we’re to solve the construction industry skills shortage, we need to look at how we communicate opportunities with our future employees. We’ve been working with young people since 2011.

We speak to them and get to the heart of what engages and attracts them to an industry with outdated perceptions. They want to see what those of a similar age are doing with their post-16 choices, they want to see the reality and want to be able to relate to their peers.

WE ALL need to communicate in a way which is inspiring and current to them if we are to engage. With this in mind, we launched our #nextgencad campaign, an Instagram account run by Apprentice Digital Engineers, for those who aspire to follow in their footsteps. Check it out, it’s inspiring to see their take on the world they are working in.

Tomorrow’s Engineers: Why the CADCOE Approach to Training Works

The stats show, that 100% of our apprentices that complete their training remain in employment, and the employers we work with report double the productivity gains compared to other apprenticeship initiatives within engineering and construction. We believe the success in what we do is down to three key areas:

1. Intensive Learning

Apprentices complete 16 weeks intensive learning in CAD software for digital construction, before joining their employers full-time to complete the remainder of their training. This provides the apprentices with a great feeling of purpose from day one and means employers can get them involved in projects early on.

2. Meaningful Partnerships

CADCOE collaborates to develop meaningful partnerships, with leading FE providers to ensure both students and employers are accessing the most current training for industry, in line with the highest educational standards, within outstanding facilities. Currently, we partner with Dudley College of Technology, one of the UK’s top 3 Apprenticeship providers, with outstanding Ofsted status and the ground-breaking Advance II training centre.

3. Training Direct from Industry

Primarily, our teachers are former design engineers but secondly, CADCOE is part of the Technical Design Services Group.  Our training provision is fed directly by our sister companies; TDS, structural steel and architectural metalwork design specialists and Design4Structures,a group of structural engineering consultants. This means apprentices have access to course content that is relevant for the right now and the future.

Tomorrow’s Engineers Week runs from the 5-9th Novembers. If you would like to find out more about the work Cadcoe is doing, how to become a digital engineer, or would like to recruit an apprentice to your team, contact us for more info.