Digital academy will be set up in the UK after an agreement between Siemens, Newcastle University, the University of Sheffield and 15 other universities across the country.
The Digital Academy is a step forward in the United Kingdom education system and will bridge the gap between the undergraduates and the tech job market. It will also act as a link between these universities and Siemens, where top talents will easily be integrated into Siemens for work or in their research and development departments.
Siemens and the universities announced that they had already selected six students from a couple of different universities to pilot this program. The students that were selected are; Thomas Edwards from the University of Sheffield, Nikhil Patel and Miles Moran from Newcastle University, Maryem Khan from the University of Loughborough, Ariana Escobar Chalen from the University of Manchester and Diana Crintea from the University of Southampton. These students will be provided with all the resources they require and a report will be made about the success of the pilot program.
Digital academy stipends
The students undertaking this project will be paid a total of £3,000 when they get into their second year of school henceforth. They will also be eligible to participate with siemens for a 12 week long paid internship program.
The students that were selected in the first batch came from a hackathon held in the University of Sheffield where 84 talented engineering students had participated in this competition.
Ian Donald, head of R&D at Siemens Digital Factory in Congleton, added:
We really want to develop the next generation of engineers who can create and develop new exciting things.
This shows the commitment being undertaken by Siemens in regards to tapping into the students’ talent pool. They are reaching out to ambitious young people who will be at the forefront of the next tech revolution.
Digital Academy a precedent to follow
Ian Donald sees it as preparation of the young people for the fourth industrial revolution in England. This is a step forward in collaboration between universities and companies and it is expected to set a precedent for others to follow suit.
Students from the following universities can apply for enrollment in the digital academy the University of Sheffield; the University of Southampton; The University of Manchester; the University of Cambridge; the University of Lincoln; Imperial College London; the University of Strathclyde; the University of Nottingham; the University of Birmingham;Bournemouth University; Loughborough University; Newcastle University; the University of Bath; the University of York; the University of Warwick Oxford University; and Aston University .
