Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI)
What is 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.

Industry partners
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.
Engineering Our Future blog
Visit the blogFollow our blog to keep in touch with what our current, past, and future engineers are up to and see the impact our students have in the world.
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We teamed up with I’m an Engineer to connect local school students with engineers in live text based chats that took place throughout the month of March. During this month-long ‘Metre Zone’ (all the engineering zones are named after different units of measurement!), several local engineers from the West of England region joined chat sessions … Continue reading "A month of live chats with I’m an Engineer"
A month of live chats with I’m an Engineer
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UWE Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Mechatronics, Dr Appolinaire Etoundi, recently delivered a fantastic talk for the Association for Science Education, engaging local teachers and STEM educators with the story of his engineering pathway and his research into bio-inspired prosthetic joints for amputees. Engineers above all else are problem-solvers, and there are a lot of … Continue reading "Dr Appolinaire Etoundi presents at ASE talk"
Dr Appolinaire Etoundi presents at ASE talk
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Suppose there was a Zombie outbreak? How confident would you be to predict what would happen? Well lucky for us, Emily Walsh Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at UWE, has created a new BoxEd school outreach activity, a mathematical model of a zombie apocalypse. This engaging activity allows students to work through the maths behind infectious … Continue reading "A Mathematical Model of a Zombie Apocalypse"
A Mathematical Model of a Zombie Apocalypse
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The DETI Inspire programme recently teamed up with Primary Engineer to provide online teacher CPD sessions for 10 primary schools in the West of England region. These one-day online sessions supported teachers to deliver a whole class, curriculum mapped engineering project, in this instance, building an electric car. Primary Engineer supplied all participants with the … Continue reading "Creating a buzz with Primary Engineer"
Creating a buzz with Primary Engineer
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“If you were an Engineer, what would you do?” This is the question asked to over 49,000 children throughout the UK each year as part of the Primary Engineer Leaders Award. The Leaders Award is an annual competition which encourages pupils from primary and secondary schools across the UK to look at the world around … Continue reading "UWE student engineers bring children’s designs to life!"
UWE student engineers bring children’s designs to life!
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Neurodiversity Week celebrates our unique strengths and differences, while recognising that the many talents of people with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia and other neurodiverse ways of thinking and learning are often not suited to traditional, formal learning environments. Science Hunters is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) outreach and research programme that uses Minecraft … Continue reading "Providing space for social communication in a STEM engagement project"
Providing space for social communication in a STEM engagement project
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DETI Inspire hosted a series of online engineering engagement events last week as part of British Science Week celebrations, and we’re pleased to say it was a big success! The Big Beam In connected 54 primary and secondary schools from across the region with local engineering ambassadors, providing an opportunity to engage over 3500 pupils … Continue reading "A Big Success for the Big Beam In"
A Big Success for the Big Beam In
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British Science Week is a ten-day celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) taking place this year between 5-14th March. Despite the many challenges of taking part in Science Week during a global pandemic, schools around the country have been engaging with celebrations whole-heartedly, ensuring their pupils have the best opportunity possible to celebrate … Continue reading "How do you teach a class of pupils amidst lockdowns and school closures?"
How do you teach a class of pupils amidst lockdowns and school closures?