Congratulations to Manoj Vadher, Head of Engineering Reliability and Knowledge at Royal Mail, who’s been named as the winner in the Degree Apprentice of the Year category, at the West Midlands regional National Apprenticeship Awards 2020.

Manoj, is currently in his final year of his Master’s Level 7 Degree Apprenticeship as part of the WMG Senior Leader Degree Apprenticeship programme.

Manoj explains: “I am also the functional lead in engineering for the Royal Mail development programme. I have been working with the communities, colleges and the universities to develop apprenticeship programmes. As a result, Engineering at Royal Mail now has the benchmark development programme all through the apprenticeship schemes.

“I have also applied the learning from my apprenticeship to deliver solutions that had the major positive impact on the ways of working bringing significant financial savings. I delivered engineering maintenance strategies, robotic process automation and machine learning initiatives.”

He adds: “Balancing work and study can be challenging, especially if you are in a demanding role. The programme is delivered using the block delivery model, making it easier to balance your time. The key benefit of studying through apprenticeships is that it allows you to integrate study with your day-to-day role. For me, both areas grew in parallel. You quickly start to understand and manage the priorities in your personal and professional life. My personal productivity improved. I don’t think I will ever go back and waste valuable time on the some of the activities at both work and home.”

WMG Senior Leader Course Leader, Trudy Spencer, explains: “The teaching team at WMG thoroughly enjoy working with the Royal Mail delegates to deliver the Senior Leader Degree Apprenticeship Programme. It is particularly satisfying to see the programme learning being applied in the workplace and having a positive impact on both the Royal Mail business and the delegates’ personal development.

“Manoj has been an advocate for our programme from the launch and has taken every opportunity to apply and share his learning back at work. We are delighted to see his achievements being recognised through this award.”

James Baker, Chief Engineer and Fleet Director at Royal Mail group said: “I am delighted Manoj’s hard work and dedication has been recognised at the West Midlands regional National Apprenticeship Awards. He has used his learning to develop himself and to grow the capabilities of the wider business team. A great personal achievement and demonstrates the positive impact continual development can have.”

Manoj adds: “If anyone is thinking about doing an apprenticeship, I would say it is the best choice you can make for yourself. Find the right course with the relevant apprenticeship standards for you and go for it.”

Manoj went on to the final of the National Apprenticeship Awards on 25th November where he was Highly Commended.

Find out more about the WMG Senior Leader Programme here.

Congratulations to all our brilliant WMG students who graduated at the University of Warwick’s Winter Ceremony this week, held in Butterworth Hall.

Alumna speaker for both ceremonies was Zoe Chilton who graduated from WMG in 2012 with an MSc in Engineering Business Management.

This year a total of 1,440 Master’s, Postgraduate Research and Undergraduate students graduated from across WMG.

There were 1,347 Master’s students and a further 19 graduated from the Postgraduate Research programme including 5 EngD, 13 PhD and one Master’s by Research students.

The final 74 were from Jaguar Land Rover, Network Rail IAC and TRW studying on WMG’s Applied Engineering Programme (AEP).

Professor Dave Mullins, WMG said: "Our graduation ceremonies are one of the highlights of our year as our new graduates celebrate their success in the company of their family and friends and prepare to apply the skills and knowledge they have gained in the career that they pursue."

Congratulations to all of the brilliant WMG students who graduated at the University of Warwick’s Summer Ceremony this week.

This year a total of 294 Master’s and Postgraduate Research students graduated from across WMG.

There were 266 Master’s students made up of 193 UK and overseas full-time students, and a further 73, from the part-time Master's programme.

A further 28 graduated from the Postgraduate Research programme including six EngD, 19 PhD and three Master's by Research students.

Professor David Mullins, Acting Head of WMG said: “It was a delight for us to honour the achievements of our new graduates at the degree congregation. It is a wonderful day of celebration for our students, with their family and friends, as they leave their studies to embark on the next stage of their careers.

“We wish them all the very best for their futures and the impact that each will make on their companies and communities.”

Professor Mullins added: “All of us at WMG are very proud of our alumni including Dr Roy Cheung who was also honoured at the ceremony and presented with an Honorary Doctor of Science. Dr Cheung also gave a stirring speech to our graduates on the opportunities that lie ahead.”

WMG, at the University of Warwick, has launched a new Master’s programme with Royal Mail Group which is designed to develop leadership talent in technology based industries. A wide range of Royal Mail Group staff, from all levels of management, are the first participants in this new programme.

Twenty five Royal Mail Group staff enrolled with WMG in September 2018 in a three year development programme which will enable the participants to gain a Leadership and Management focussed MSc from the University of Warwick. The programme is aligned to the Level 7 Senior Leader Master’s Degree Apprenticeship standard.

The three-year part-time programme combines workplace learning with block release study at WMG in eight one-week study modules, each followed by a work-based assignment plus a work-based project. The programme is made up of core and elective modules, giving participants the opportunity to develop specialisations of particular relevance to their current role and future career aspirations. It will lead to a University of Warwick MSc and a Degree Apprenticeship.

A record number of almost 1450 students have enrolled at WMG this academic year.

A huge 1,241 people from 63 countries, are now studying full-time, with a further 27 studying part-time, on one of our 15 Management, Business or sector specific Master’s courses.

96 students have enrolled on our part-time Applied Engineering Programme, studying for a BEng degree alongside their full-time job in the engineering or technology industry. Another 11 have enrolled on our Postgraduate Engineering Degree Apprenticeship Programme.

We have welcomed our largest single intake of Research Degree students across various programmes, including seven EngDs, 24 PhDs and six MSc by Research and the first intake onto our new MSc by Research in Business Transformation.

We’ve also welcomed our first cohort of 23 full-time BSc Cyber Security students.

You can find out more about all of our education programmes here.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Sue Parr as WMG’s new Director of Apprenticeships.

Sue joined WMG in December 2015 as a Business Development Director, tasked with developing our Professional and Executive Programmes, following 12 years at the Open University where she was Director of Executive Education.

Following the huge success of our Applied Engineering and Dyson degree programmes we are now extending our Degree Apprenticeship provision across engineering, digital, cyber security and healthcare.

Our Degree Apprenticeship programmes complement our existing academic and professional courses and enable us to contribute to regional and national employment needs and to enhance our students’ employability and skills. Crucially, they help widen access and participation by introducing alternative entry criteria, new flexible modes of study and new models of delivery.

Gordon Harris from Solihull has worked in engineering for almost thirty years, and has just gained long-wished-for academic qualifications – boosting his career – after graduating with the first cohort from the Applied Engineering Programme (AEP) at WMG, University of Warwick.

Harris has been an employee at Jaguar for twenty-eight years, most recently for the Advanced Manufacturing Engineering team at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). Born and raised in Solihull, he always dreamed of getting a university education, but wasn’t able to fit in studying whilst working a full-time job.

JLR sponsored Gordon to enrol on the AEP, a four year part-time specialised WMG degree course, in 2013. Since beginning the course, he has been promoted to Lead Engineer for a JLR project.

“The learning gained during the last four years has helped me to achieve my promotion and additional responsibilities with my current role,” said Gordon. “The course has encouraged my development and has given me greater insight across more aspects of the business, which has helped me with my day to day role.”

The part-time AEP course enables people who already work in industry, of all ages and backgrounds, to gain a formal engineering qualification, offering a flexible and non-traditional path into university education.

Today engineering undergraduates begin their bespoke engineering degree, which has been developed by WMG, at the University of Warwick, in collaboration with Dyson. The Undergraduate Engineers have started at the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology on the Dyson technology campus in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

Designed for aspiring engineers, there were over 850 applications for 25 places on the course and due to the exceptionally high calibre of candidates, 33 Undergraduate Engineers were accepted onto the four-year engineering degree.

The undergraduate engineers will be mentored by Dyson’s practicing scientists and engineers – world experts in their field – who will teach alongside academics from WMG, the University of Warwick. They will benefit from learning high-level science and engineering theory, combined with real-world application on live projects. They will come away from higher education debt-free, having earned a salary throughout and the prospect of a graduate role with Dyson on completion of the four-year degree.

WMG, University of Warwick, was pleased to welcome 22 Chinese delegates from Beijing Academy of Science and Technology (BJAST), for a special three-week executive training programme in July/August.

The theme for the 2016 programme was ‘Innovation Strategy and Team Work,’ with two separate elements to the course in both Beijing and here at WMG. The WMG element also involved industrial visits to Morgan Motor Company.

WMG at the University of Warwick has launched the ‘Class of 2016’, an exciting new initiative to showcase its world class education programmes, and the opportunities they offer people at any stage of their career.

WMG’s Chairman, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, is passionate about education and ensuring that industry has the right skills base on which to sustain its future.

He explains: ‘I started out as an apprentice, and it is that grounding that has shaped my whole career. I worked my way up through the ranks, so I know first-hand what it takes to work hard to achieve career goals. I feel strongly that everyone, at any stage of their career, should have the opportunity to develop their skills, which is why workplace learning and technical education is at the very core of WMG.”