The Department for Education today announced a further £15-million in seed funding to put in place the foundations to build a bold, new and different university opening in Hereford in 2020.

Together with £8 million provided earlier in the year, making a total of £23 million following, this will be used to develop the physical and digital campus in Hereford’s city centre and to build a team of educators to design a learning experience that’s never been seen in Britain before.

Janusz Kozinski, Founding President of Hereford’s new University, said, “With this terrific investment from the Government we are now ready for liftoff. We will be totally reimagining and redesigning the higher education experience for the young people who will create Britain’s future.

“If Britain is to lead the next industrial revolution, driven by artificial intelligence, driverless cars and 4D printing, we need to educate young people to be pioneers and creators. We need to give them the confidence to think beyond their textbooks, the freedom to be daring, and the tenacity to turn ideas into new products, new companies and even entirely new industries.

“The future of higher education for engineers is arriving very soon, in Hereford!”

The new university for Hereford is being created in partnership with the University of Warwick and Olin College of Engineering in the United States.

“Warwick is delighted to be able to continue to advise, and assist, the team in Hereford as it develops its innovative engineering degree as a visionary, and thoughtful, new entrant to the higher education sector. The UK needs many more people with engineering skills at all levels and the University of Warwick is pleased to be a partner in a range of initiatives, such as this, that will help meet that need by encouraging more young people to enter engineering,” said Professor Stuart Croft, Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick.

The project has been supported from its genesis by Herefordshire County Council, with the aim of establishing the county’s very first University.

“We are delighted to have been awarded further government funding for Hereford’s University project. It is clear recognition of what our county’s proposed University can offer locally, regionally and nationally,” said Councillor Tony Johnson, Leader of Herefordshire Council.

“The new University will have a game-changing impact on Herefordshire, as we will welcome up to 5,000 students to the county over the next decade or so. This will have a positive economic impact on the county, particularly due to the investment in teaching and administration facilities,” he added.

The University’s Founding President, Professor Janusz Kozinski was appointed earlier this year. Kozinski, who successfully created the Lassonde School of Engineering in Toronto, Canada, is now based in a start up space where he is building and leading a growing team of educators, architects and creative talents who are working collaboratively with young people, employers and the community to design the University.

“This country has produced the brilliant inventors and innovators who have given the world the steam engine, the computer and the internet. Since I arrived in Britain listening to young people share their dreams of the future. They are full of brilliant ideas.

“We are truly a start up university with a bold vision to educate such young talent to become doers and creators, not just thinkers and theorists,” said Kozinski.

NMiTE Information:

NMiTE aims to open its doors in September 2020 to the first 300 students at a purpose-built city centre campus in Hereford. It intends to be educating more than 5,000 students by 2032. Its new university concept was launched in 2015 with the support of engineers, leading universities, businesspeople and politicians.

Britain has an estimated shortfall of 40,000 engineering graduates, and closing this gap is essential if the country is to have the high-value skills needed for a successful modern economy. NMiTE is being created to help solve this problem with a radical new approach and curriculum that combines the best innovations from leading universities around the world.

The fledgling university is being strongly backed by engineering businesses, the Herefordshire community, the University of Warwick, professional engineering bodies and the UK Government, which recently announced over £8million in initial funding with more to follow shortly.

26 October 2017

Contact details:

NMiTE – Jason Voutsinos and Tim Prizeman, Kelso Consulting:

T: 020 7242 2286

E: JasonV at KelsoPR dot com