David Brown and Huddersfield University launch MSc in gear technology

Aug 2 2010 by Henryk Zientek, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A LEADING engineering firm is gearing up to make sure it always has a supply of skilled workers.

Lockwood-based David Brown Gear Systems has teamed up with Huddersfield University to offer a master’s degree in gear technology.

The company, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, has already established its own ‘Gear Academy’ as part of efforts to ensure vital expertise is always available.

The new university course has now been fully validated and the first students start in October.

The first students on the part-time course are almost all likely to be David Brown employees aiming to add to their expertise and qualifications.

But the course will also be open to other applicants.

The university said interest had already come from other major firms and organisations.

Teaching will be conducted by David Brown experts and by specialists at the university’s school of computing and engineering.

Graham Penning, group technology director for David Brown, said the combination of the gear academy and the university MSc course meant Huddersfield would become pre-eminent in the teaching of gear technology.

He said the idea of an in-house gear academy arose from the need to head off a shortage of skilled staff.

“All engineering companies in recent decades had suffered from the fact that more skilled people were leaving than entering the industry,” he said. “This posed a risk to core technologies.”

Mr Penning identified no fewer than 350 core skills that David Brown employees needed to secure.

Encouraged by the strong emphasis placed on training by Clyde Blowers, the Scottish-based company which took over David Brown 18 months ago, Mr Penning launched the gear academy.