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<p /> <p>My Department provides grant funding for the Royal Academy of Engineering
to support initiatives that encourage collaboration between industry and university
engineering departments, for example through the provision of Research Chairs. We
invited the President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Professor Dame Ann Dowling,
to review how to strengthen research collaboration between business and universities.
The review has met with an engaged response from both industry and universities and
we look forward to its published recommendations in the coming weeks.</p><p> </p><p>I
welcome the supply of students with degrees in subjects relevant to engineering. This
year there has been a 6.5% increase in new students studying science, technology,
engineering and mathematics at university, following an 8% rise in 2013. Employer
engagement in higher education is also a matter for the engineering sector itself
and I applaud the initiative shown by the engineering profession, in particular through
the work of Education4Engineering and the Engineering Professors’ Council. Both Education4Engineering
and the Engineering Professors’ Council have brought engineering employers and universities
to work together in response to the Perkins Review of Engineering Skills, for example
to improve the visibility of employers on campus to ensure that students are aware
of the exciting opportunities available in the engineering sector.</p>
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