Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI)
The Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI) programme is investing in the future of digital engineering for our region. The West of England is a hub for innovative Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) industries, and home to a thriving ecosystem of digital creatives and future arts industries. However, there is a huge skills and employment gap in the UK for future engineers.
DETI is a strategic programme of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), delivered by the National Composites Centre, in partnership with;
- Centre for Modelling and Simulation
- Digital Catapult
- UWE Bristol
- University of Bristol
- University of Bath.
Industry partners include Airbus, GKN Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, and CFMS, with contributions from UWE Bristol, Digital Catapult and Siemens. DETI is funded by £5m from WECA, with co-investment from the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and industry.
Skills development
UWE Bristol’s Engineering, Design and Mathematics Department (EDM) are leading the Skills Development branch of DETI, establishing an engineering engagement hub for the West of England, based out of their new School of Engineering building. Working in collaboration with key DETI partners and industry supporters they are delivering three programmes.
Inspire
Encouraging diversity and inclusivity, DETI Inspire engages children in primary and secondary education across the West of England, with a focus on disadvantaged areas. Using curriculum-linked engineering outreach and careers support, we are connecting children with real-life, diverse engineering role models to widen participation and aspirations for STEM careers.
DETI Inspire builds on the success of previous projects founded and launched by UWE Bristol, including Curiosity Connections – the network for inspirational primary STEM education in the West of England, and Women Like Me – a tiered mentoring project for women engineers, and has established the DETI Diversity Demonstrator - a network of high-quality diverse engineering career role models, supported by Inspire to interact with outreach events throughout the West of England.
Transform
Inspiring future generations, the DETI Transform programme plans to engage with further and higher education institutions to map and upgrade current taught provision and demonstrate how digital engineering can contribute to the sustainability goals for the West of England, leading into the next phase of clean and sustainable growth.
Innovate
To ensure the current and future workforce is digital ready, the DETI Innovate programme will examine the tools, technologies, and processes needed to rapidly accelerate engineering capabilities and identify the skills needed to embed a digital culture throughout organisations in the West of England. By undertaking a Skills Gap Analysis, DETI Innovate will map current roles within the design and manufacturing fields to digital skills, both current and future, to understand the gaps and help focus solutions.
Working with the existing engineering community DETI Innovate will ensure courses are ‘fit for purpose’ to build the workforce of the future. Working with established national and regional initiatives, short courses will be developed to enhance digital awareness and a Postgraduate conversion course for technical and non-technical graduates will equip them with the necessary digital skills to fulfil roles in a digital manufacturing workplace.
Further information
Find out more about DETI or sign up to the newsletter.
For further information about our DETI Skills programme contact deti@uwe.ac.uk.
You can also read about our progress on the Engineering Our Future blog.
