Northumbria University, Newcastle, has announced a new scholarship
programme funded by leading engineering consultancy Rolton Group to support women from minority ethnic backgrounds interested in studying
engineering.
The Rolton Group Undergraduate Engineering Scholarships will start in
September 2022. Worth £6,000 each, the scholarships will be awarded to
academically gifted Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women to study on one of
Northumbria’s engineering courses.
The scholarships will help pay for
living costs associated with study and to enhance the overall learning
experience. In addition, each student will have the opportunity to take part in
paid placement-project work each summer. Supervised and mentored by a Rolton
Group manager, the placement work will assign each student to live engineering
projects where they can gain valuable experience that will help enhance their
career prospects following graduation.
Peter Rolton, Chairman of Rolton Group, said: “Our
scholarship partnership with Northumbria is an excellent opportunity for
talented students from underrepresented groups to fulfil their ambitions to go
to university and become engineers. At the same time it will help businesses
and organisations, like Rolton Group, recruit talented graduates ready to
tackle challenges such as the application of renewable technologies and carbon reduction. Encouraging greater gender and ethnic
diversity in our profession is an important part of this.”
Paul Housego, Director of Rolton Group
responsible for training and development, said: “The opportunity to support students,
the next generation of engineers, through funding, work placement and
mentorship is a pleasure and an honour. We recognise the power and importance
of diversity in the workplace and we’re proud to provide the Rolton
Group Engineering Scholarships from September 2022. With work underway to
establish a North East office location for Rolton Group, it’s great to continue
working in partnership with the forward-thinking team at Northumbria
University.”
Professor George Marston, Pro
Vice-Chancellor for Strategic Projects at Northumbria, added: “The University
is already working closely with the highly respected
Rolton Group through major projects we are both involved in such as Britishvolt’s
£3.8 billion “gigaplant” factory, which is being developed in Northumberland to
manufacture electric vehicle batteries. These
new scholarships from Rolton Group strengthen our partnership even further and
will offer new opportunities for aspiring students, while helping to diversify
the future engineering workforce.
“I am also looking
forward to welcoming Peter Rolton to our campus on March 9. As the recently
appointed Executive Chairman of Britishvolt he will deliver a public
lecture on the company’s decision to build its
factory here in the North East, and the benefits this will bring both to the
region and to the future of electric vehicle technology in the UK. An alumnus
of Northumbria, Peter will also meet and speak with some of our current
engineering students and to our academics involved in renewable energy research
during his visit. I am sure his insights will be greatly appreciated.”
Rolton Group’s scholarship
funding complements Northumbria’s Higher
Education Without Barriers Fund. The fund provides a
range of support, including financial initiatives, to make participation and
progression in higher education more achievable for academically talented
students, regardless of their social or economic circumstances.
For more information on
Peter Rolton’s public lecture and to book a place please visit:www.northumbria.ac.uk/peterrolton
