Routes to engage with staff and students at the School of Engineering and Technology
Follow @UHBusinessOne of the most significant benefits to your businesses results from the employment of talented staff.
Our graduate bring expertise to businesses across a range of sectors. Many companies now engage with us at an early stage with our courses and students.
We are able to offer targeted access to present to cohorts of students and our Careers, Employment and Enterprise Service offers a wide range of employer support. We also offer a variety of routes for businesses to become involved with us to tackle your business problems.
Listed below is a selection of the ways in which we might work together:
-
1 Year student placements opportunities
All engineering and technology students have the opportunity to take their 3rd year in industry as a placement.
Having studied on their degree programme for 2 years many students and companies benefit from having a bright and talented individual work in the company for a period of 48 weeks, gaining valuable work experience and also contributing to the business activities of the company.
Many companies like their placement student so much they offer them a final year undergraduate project when they return to the University.
Most students end up with a job offer when they graduate.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Academic/ professional consultancy
If you have an issue that needs solving, or an idea you would like to work on, the University of Hertfordshire could help.
Academic and professional consultancy can provide timely and responsive support to meet your needs, gaining access to our unique expertise, delivered in a bespoke manner to suit you.
We are able to provide consultancy services across all our subject areas;
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- Communications Engineering
- Electronics
- Materials
- Manufacturing and Digital Technologies
- Mechanical
- Microengineering and Microfluidics
- Motorsport
- Operations Management and Process Improvement
We can assist with problem analysis, simulation and visualisation, laboratory testing, modelling and bespoke training.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Collaborative research
(Grant funded consortium based projects)The University of Hertfordshire undertakes millions of pounds worth of collaborative research each year, ranging from private consortia to international level projects.
The University is always happy to collaborate as part of a larger group and assist in building partnerships.
In engineering we are already part of several consortium projects across the UK and Europe as well as having collaborative projects as far afield as China and India.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Contract research
Need high level in-depth support on a particular area of pain, looking at developing a new innovative product/ process or service?
Contract research provides a dedicated academic to serve your needs, utilising all the Universities expertise to deliver a bespoke and specialist service to your organisation.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Facility hire and equipment use
Universities house a great deal of expensive and specialist equipment. The University of Hertfordshire prides itself on supporting the UK and wider economy through access to our facilities.
If we have some equipment you would like to use or try out then please let us know.
In engineering and technology we have over 3,000m2 of laboratory space, equipment and testing facilities. These include, amongst many others:
- a 5-axis machining centre.
- a class 1000 clean room and microfluidics development benches.
- a rocket engine test chamber.
- a smart systems laboratory.
- digital signal processing.
- dynamics and condition monitoring equipment.
- engine test cells and vibration.
- image recognition and analysis equipment.
- materials processing, testing and analysis; fuel cell and hydrogen facilities.
- microelectronics and system on chip development labs.
- thermodynamics and fluid mechanics equipment.
- wind tunnels.
- wireless, mobile and optical communications.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Industrial EngD
The Professional Engineering Doctorate programme (EngD) is an opportunity to the develop future technology and engineering leaders for your organisation.
Our scheme allows employees of engineering organisations to work on between 2 and 4 thematically linked research projects, each between 1 and 2 years, that are linked to the companies current activities or future need.
The aim being over a 4 year period to make a significant and original contribution to the enterprise or profession and qualify with a Professional Doctorate.
In addition to conducting research the employee has an individual programme of personal and professional development that might span advanced technical up-skilling but also broadening their management understanding.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs)
A talented graduate, mentored by a respected University of Hertfordshire academic, will drive a selected project forward within your organisation.
Projects need to be focussed on making strategic change, increasing productivity, competitiveness or performance by accessing the knowledge and expertise of our academics and benefitting from our facilities.
Subsidised support is available from Innovate UK for KTPs.
The School of Engineering and Technology is one of the UKs leading academic units running KTPs and we have numerous case study examples we can share with you of how we have helped support major technology change projects in SMEs.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
M.Eng team projects
Why not suggest an ambitious project for some of our very best students to tackle as a group exercise?
A number of companies take up an annual opportunity to suggest multidisciplinary, multi-system projects that our students tackle in groups of between 4 and 8 between October and May each year.
Previous examples have included, amongst many others:
- alternative fuelled vehicles.
- autonomous vehicles.
- Mars rovers.
- UAVs.
- solar cars.
- rocket sleds.
This could be your opportunity to watch a highly motivated group take on one of your challenging projects and see what they make of it.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
MSc student projects
Companies frequently benefit from suggesting industry focussed short duration projects that are suitable for intensive investigation over a 4 month period.
Both the company and the MSc student benefit from working on these low risk low cost industry suggested projects.
MSc projects run in 3 periods of the year:
- February – June.
- June – September.
- October – January.
Students can make use of our laboratory facilities or company facilities and benefit from the link with industry, and this can also be a useful way of identifying engineering talent for organisations and up-skilling the workforce.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
PhD studentships
The School of Engineering and Technology has over 80 Doctoral level students studying across the breadth of our engineering disciplines.
Sponsoring a PhD student offers the opportunity for a 3 year investment in in-depth research into an area of interest to both your organisation and the School.
This might deliver a:
- new methods or technologies.
- step change in technological capability.
- new understanding of a problem your organisation is experiencing.
The PhD study also develops already talented individuals to have advanced research and analysis skills, providing potential long-term highly skilled human resources for the organisation.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Project clinics (Sandpits)
If your company has a number of complex projects, challenges or issues that need multidisciplinary solutions the University of Hertfordshire can arrange half day or day long Sandpits where experts from various fields come together to meet your company, discuss the issues and problems and potentially identify and discuss solutions or options.
Non Disclosure Agreements can be put in place if required.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Short course, CPD and bespoke training
The University of Hertfordshire provides outstanding education and training to its thousands of students each year.
Developing bespoke training courses for your employees, young engineers, graduates or fast track leaders enables a completely tailored approach and outcomes designed to deliver true value for money.
The School of engineering and technology frequently offers bespoke short courses for companies and their employees.
Recently short courses have included:
- Fluid Systems and Propulsion
- Mechatronics
- Passive Optical Networks
- Principles of Control
- Project Management
- Reliability Engineering.
- Structural Analysis of Aerospace Structures
Please contact us if you would like short courses or training in other areas of engineering and technology.
View our short course portfolio.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Student work experience opportunities
Each year we recruit around 400 students across all our engineering and technology programmes.
A similar number graduate each year after completing their degrees, moving on into employment in some of the UKs best engineering and technology companies or further afield to overseas businesses. This represents perhaps the biggest contribution we make to future engineering success of the UK.
Many of our students are looking for work experience opportunities as a way of enhancing their CVs, developing their knowledge and experience, and engaging in meaningful engineering and technology projects.
What better way to identify future talent for your organisation?
If you wish to offer work experience opportunities for our students then we’d like to hear from you.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Supporting inventors and product development
Many of our staff have design and product development expertise as well as experience of establishing new businesses and taking new ideas to market.
We can help with protecting your idea, support the development of prototypes and help you seek out potential partners to exploit your project.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
-
Undergraduate final year student projects
Numerous local and national companies propose engineering and technology based undergraduate projects each year.
Students then spend about 300 hours working on these projects between October and April carrying out analysis, testing and design and producing useful results, new software, data and insight into real industry problems.
Projects need to be suggested by July for a start in October.
Prospective projects are proposed to academic staff to seek out staff willing to provide academic supervision during the projects.
Templates for Non Disclosure Agreements are available if required.
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk to find out more.
More information
Contact us at be@herts.ac.uk if you have any queries or would like to set up a collaborative project for our students to work on for your company.