College’s new £4m STEM Centre officially opened by Deputy Mayor of London

Waltham Forest College’s new STEM Centre celebrated its official opening by Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor of London, at Tuesday evening’s launch event.

This spectacular event was hosted in the STEM Centre. Local employers, education providers, Governors, stakeholders and local dignitaries joined the celebration.

A £4m development with funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA), the STEM Centre now stands as a unique venue. The GLA contributed £3.5m for this teaching and learning facility for science, technology, engineering and maths. It aims to support skills development in East London for STEM employment such as Nurse training, Motor Vehicle Engineering, and more advanced engineering including, CAD and CNC work.

The futuristic STEM Centre will be used by staff and students at the College to enhance learning skills development. A wide range of courses include Vehicle Technology, Motorcycle Maintenance, Electrical Installation, Engineering Technologies, Nursing Midwifery and Health Studies, Technical Textiles and Railway Engineering.

Students will have access to state-of-the-art facilities and industry standard workshops and resources, designed to inspire them to succeed through its highly-integrated learning systems. It will prepare students to be well placed for the modern-day workplace and also enable employers to grow their businesses.

Guests toured the high tech facility with Nick Cocks, the Manager. Nick showed the guests some of the Centre’s key learning innovations, including Automotive diagnostics and laser wheel alignment, Engineering operations, such as CAD (computer aided design), 3D printing, a CNC (computer numerical control) desktop machines for milling and turning, and a science lab where students study anatomy of the human body.

Students also demonstrated the use of special equipment in the workshops and talked about the skills they had learnt.

Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, Jules Pipe, said: “I’m really encouraged by Waltham

Forest College’s ambition and vision to equip more Londoners with the STEM skills this city so desperately needs. The Mayor and I are determined to do all we can to enable all Londoners, whatever their background, to share in the capital’s prosperity and fulfil their potential – and I look forward to continuing to work with the College to help create the workforce of the future.”

College Principal Penny Wycherley said: “Waltham Forest College serves one of the most deprived and diverse communities in the country. The STEM Centre we opened today is a tremendous opportunity for young people in the area to acquire the skills that employers desperately need.

“This investment by the Mayor of London is prime example of well targeted efficient public investment that will benefit millions of people way into the future.”

The College will be hosting its next open event on Saturday 27th January 2018, 10am – 1pm, Those in attendance will be given the opportunity to visit the new STEM Centre.