The Duke adds support to East London UTC

The Duke of York has thrown his support behind the East London University Technical College (ELUTec) on a visit to the Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence in East London.

The Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) is a world-class research, business support, education and training campus located in East London, focused on supporting the engineering, manufacturing and technology sectors.

CEME was established in 2003 to provide skills, create jobs and businesses that are revitalising London’s industrial heartland in the Thames Gateway. ELUTec is due to open in September 2013 and is currently recruiting students.

The Duke visited the CEME Innovation Centre, where businesses are rented low cost space to develop. There are currently 44 tenants and demand requires that the centre is bidding to expand.

HRH also saw the Gateway to Skills Centre (GTS) which engages young people in design, technology and engineering. GTS aims to introduce and develop a passion for STEM subjects to local primary and secondary school pupils from an early stage via the delivery of Taster Days. Taster Days give young people the opportunity to use state of the art CAD, rapid-prototyping, laser-cutting and routing equipment that is not widely available in schools.

Meeting future students of ELUtec, The Duke said:

“The technical college that will open next year will be a really important addition to the work of CEME… At the end of the day, we are trying to give young people not only the ambition to be successful in business but to tell them that they can have their own aspirations to be in business.

“Being told no at school is not good enough, they need to be told that in the real world of work everything is possible.”

You can read more about the East London UTC on their website, and read more about the visit in the Romford Recorder.