Published at 15:35, Wednesday, 23 June 2010

THE NATIONAL Nuclear Laboratory, which has sites at Sellafield and Workington, has had three of its leading engineers appointed as visiting professors to three of the UK’s top universities.

The firm has been working in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) to develop and launch a visiting professor scheme in nuclear engineering with its university partners.

This initiative has recently seen the appointment of three of NNL’s leading engineers – Richard Taylor; Bruce Hanson and Anthony Banford – as Royal Academy of Engineering visiting professors in nuclear engineering at Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester Universities.

The roles will focus on education, research, policy and developing the relationship between academia and industry.

As part of their role, the professors will support the establishment of nuclear engineering courses at their universities, help to delivery and assess relevant courses, and propose and supervise postgraduate research in areas of nuclear engineering.

They will also aim to influence industry and academic strategy by publishing papers in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering, and encourage more academic interaction and collaboration within NNL.

The company's chief engineer, Richard Taylor, visiting professor at Liverpool University, said: “This is a significant step forward for NNL. It reflects our commitment to develop links with strategic universities and reinforces our drive to build skills and to support the nuclear industry from research to application.”

In a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, RAEng’s chief executive, Philip Greenish said: “UK universities are excellent, but many courses need to change to meet employers’ needs and students’ expectations.

"At degree level, engineering is both a practical and an academic subject. There is a strong case for increasing links with industry to bring more relevance into the students’ work and we will do this by introducing more visiting professors and teaching fellows with industry experience.

"We will also be helping to spread best practice to university departments and to make the case for a great share of resources.”

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk