Brooklands College Launch their Curriculum into Space as Major Tim Peake Comes Back Down to Earth

Brooklands College Launch their Curriculum into Space as Major Tim Peake Comes Back Down to Earth

UK Astronaut Tim Peake will on Saturday complete his 6 month long mission at the International Space Station.  Although Astronauts are the stars of any mission like this it takes teams of hundreds of people to achieve such a complex undertaking. 

 Many may think that a career in the space industry is something of science-fiction or for the lucky few but it’s something that’s becoming more and more achievable.  Following a global trend for growth, the UK space industry is increasing in value by around 7.5% per annum and currently contributes £11.3 billion to the UK economy.   Not only that, but over 34,000 people are currently employed in the UK space sector.

To address the growing need for a workforce with the appropriate skills for the space industry, Brooklands College are teaming up with the National Space Academy to offer a unique opportunity for highly motivated, talented young students to join their Space Engineering course.  The course, which will be the only one of its kind in the South East, will be launching in September 2016.  Students can expect to benefit from master classes and talks from some of the UK’s leading space scientists, links with space employers such as Surrey Satellites as well as visits to the National Space Academy in Leicester.

 Peter Avenell, Assistant Head of Engineering at the College commented ‘We’re very excited to be offering this brand new course which will open up some fantastic opportunities for our students and keeps our curriculum offering at the cutting edge of engineering.’  Students completing the course could expect to go onto degrees in the sciences, mathematics or engineering disciplines and to employment in space and wider engineering industries.

Photo:  Andy McMurray, Head of Teaching and Learning at The National Space Academy, on a visit to Brooklands College.