Babcock, Strathclyde University in two-way secondment deal
5 Apr 2011
Strathclyde, UK – The University of Strathclyde and Babcock International Group plc have signed a two-way secondment agreement, under which staff, from both the university and company will learn from work at their respective partner organisation.
Under the Neil Grant Secondment Scheme, staff from the university will participate in activities at the engineering support services group. Babcock employees will participate in specific university activities and share their industrial perspectives and experiences with university colleagues and students.
“Our staff will benefit from hands-on industrial experience that will inform our world-class teaching and research programmes. In turn, Babcock employees will bring their high-level industrial expertise and knowledge to Strathclyde,” said professor Jim McDonald, principal of the University of Strathclyde.
Staff from every area of the university will be eligible to participate in the secondment scheme, contributing to projects as the company moves through a period of high activity, expansion and diversification.
The agreement builds on the the university’s BIG Academy – an executive development programme run in conjunction with Strathclyde Business School which has been undertaken by more than 400 of Babcock Marine’s senior managers in the past four years.
Strathclyde University has also recently unveiled plans for the Technology and Innovation Centre at Strathclyde (TIC) – research hub to forge closer working between academia and industry.
Babcock staff can gain a greater understanding of the nature of university business and of the varied pathways through which greater engagement and collaboration can be achieved, according to Archie Bethel CBE, divisional chief executive of Babcock and an alumnus of the University
“Nurturing the next generation of engineering talent is critically important to Babcock and to the Scottish engineering industry,” said Bethel. “The projects on which we work are, by their very nature, long-term and if we are to compete effectively in a global market place in future years, we need to take responsibility now for ensuring that have the best engineering brains we can.
“We also have a responsibility to share the experience and skills of our people with the wider community and our new, expanded association with Strathclyde University represents an excellent opportunity to do so.”
The scheme has been named after Neil Grant, a visiting professor at Strathclyde University and director with Babcock’s Marine Technology Division, who passed away last December. He had initiated plans for the programme after 15 years of joint-working with professor Alex Duffy of the university’s engineering faculty.
