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 School of Engineering are leading the Skills Development branch of DETI, establishing an engineering engagement hub for the West of England, based at UWE Bristol's 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.
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
Follow 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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UWE’s School of Engineering is celebrating 5 years of running the Women Like Me scheme in the West of England. Since 2018, we have supported over 250 women from tens of local businesses to develop their careers in engineering. The programme pairs mid-career women engineers with junior women engineers in the Bristol and Bath area … Continue reading "Female engineering students and mentors can register now for Women Like Me career coaching events"
Female engineering students and mentors can register now for Women Like Me career coaching events
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The School of Engineering at UWE Bristol are seeking to partner with local community organisations with project ideas relevant to engineering students studying the Professionalism for Engineers module. We welcome project proposals from community, voluntary and social enterprise sectors. The project is an opportunity for organisations to receive free engineering consultancy from a small team of students (3-6 people), who … Continue reading "Free engineering consultancy for local community organisations"
Free engineering consultancy for local community organisations
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UWE Bristol’s Repair Café has gotten off to a great start on its very first session on October 11th 2023! We had a fantastic team of 14 helpers, which included students, community volunteers, technicians, and other UWE staff, helping with repair and general organising. There was a lot of demand for repair amongst the UWE … Continue reading "New Repair Café at School of Engineering brings together students and wider community"
New Repair Café at School of Engineering brings together students and wider community
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The Royal Academy of Engineering funded MAKERS project is moving into its next phase, with the UWE Bristol Repair Café set to launch in October. Students, staff, and members of the public are invited to come along to the sessions with their broken items to get them fixed by a team of student and community … Continue reading "UWE Bristol to launch new Repair Café at the School of Engineering"
UWE Bristol to launch new Repair Café at the School of Engineering
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To mark the start of the academic year, and the launch of the new climate education course, the School of Engineering is inviting students, staff and members of the public to explore an array of activities dedicated to climate action. All activities will take place on September 20th in the Atrium of Z Block (the … Continue reading "School of Engineering marks the launch of the new climate education course with a celebration of climate action"
School of Engineering marks the launch of the new climate education course with a celebration of climate action
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UWE Bristol declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2020 and has since made a number of commitments in its 2030 Strategy towards tackling the environmental crisis. These include being carbon neutral by 2030, reduce water and energy use, cut waste and single-use plastic, support biodiversity, sustainable travel, and climate related research, and work with … Continue reading "School of Engineering outreach activities featured in UWE Bristol’s Sustainability Report for 2021-22"
School of Engineering outreach activities featured in UWE Bristol’s Sustainability Report for 2021-22
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UWE Bristol’s School of Engineering opened its doors for another Family Fun Day earlier this month: families from Bristol and beyond got to enjoy a range of fun science and engineering-based activities at this free event. They explored different aspects of engineering such as coding and robotics through LEGO Mindstorms and Pepper the humanoid robot, … Continue reading "School of Engineering’s Family Fun Day attracts 800 visitors"
School of Engineering’s Family Fun Day attracts 800 visitors
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Last week, the famous Cheltenham Science Festival hosted thousands of children and families with engaging science and STEM activities, stalls, events, talks and shows. All to inspire the next generation of scientists, raise aspirations for STEM careers, and feel empowered to tackle the climate crisis. The DETI Inspire team were front and centre in the … Continue reading "DETI Inspire team at the Cheltenham Science Festival"
DETI Inspire team at the Cheltenham Science Festival
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