Digital Academy from Siemens aims to nurture next-gen engineering and tech talent23 September 2019

Siemens has launched a new undergraduate sponsorship programme that is aiming to discover, inspire and nurture the next generation of engineering and tech talent.

The Digital Academy pays selected students £3,000-a-year from the second year of university as well as up to 12-weeks paid summer placement throughout the duration of their studies within a Siemens business. At the end of their degree, they will be given the chance to join Siemens’ Graduate Scheme.

The programme is a partnership between Siemens, the University of Sheffield and Newcastle University. It aims to offer undergraduates a practical, collaborative space to explore Industry 4.0 technologies and put what they learn at university into real world use.

Six trailblazing students from EEE (electrical and electronic engineering) and computer science departments have been selected to pilot the programme this summer. Nikhil Patel and Miles Moran from Newcastle University, Thomas Edwards from the University of Sheffield, Diana Crintea from the University of Southampton, Maryem Khan from the University of Loughborough and Ariana Escobar Chalen from the University of Manchester were unveiled at a launch event at Siemens Digital Factory in Congleton.

Brian Holliday, Siemens Digital Industries MD, says: “The Digital Academy is another ground-breaking example of how Siemens and our higher education partners are working together to encourage young people to pursue careers in engineering and technology.

“This programme gives undergraduates applied and up-to-date experience to bolster their academic learning. By strengthening links between business and our world-leading universities, we can inspire and nurture talent to support the UK’s leading role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

The first group of undergraduates were selected from the Sir William Siemens Challenge, a two-day hackathon-style event held at the University of Sheffield, which involved 84 engineering students from partner universities. The challenge, dubbed ‘Mindsphere Live’, saw students put into 12 hybrid, multidisciplinary teams and asked to invent a unique device powered by data.

Ian Donald, head of R&D at Siemens Digital Factory in Congleton, comments: “We really want to develop the next generation of engineers who can create and develop new exciting things. The inaugural Mindsphere Live was a great way of bringing multi-disciplinary teams together to collaborate to bring data to life in a meaningful way. These real-life problems gave students the opportunity to experience things that they may encounter in a business environment and insight into what life could be like at Siemens.

“The Digital Academy takes that experience to the next level. It illustrates that engineering is a practical subject where the real and virtual worlds co-exist and where data plays an increasingly important part in creating value. It's not just about sitting at a computer, it's really hands. It's about interaction, working in teams to solve actual problems – which is what this pilot cohort will be doing this summer.”

Applications for the next Digital Academy cohort are now being accepted. For more information on how to apply visit the Siemens website.

Adam Offord

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