(27 Sep 2010)
Laing O’Rourke and Imperial College London have today announced the creation of a new multi-disciplinary academic centre of excellence to advance the systems engineering profession and leverage innovative thinking to benefit the construction industry.
The UK’s largest privately-owned engineering enterprise, Laing O’Rourke, will fund the Laing O’Rourke Centre for Systems Engineering and Innovation at Imperial College London as part of their multi-million pound collaboration with the college.
An agreement signed today (27 September) by Imperial College London Rector Sir Keith O’Nions, and Laing O’Rourke Chairman and Chief Executive Ray O’Rourke formally launched the new centre, which is set to play a leading role in shaping the future of the construction industry by responding to the commercial and environmental challenges facing it.
The Centre will be a focus for innovative research and teaching, using the insights to deliver greater value in the disciplines of mechanical and electrical engineering, building services and manufacturing systems.
A new two-year part-time Masters course in Systems Engineering will be launched in October 2011 by the Centre, to transform the thinking, practices and performance of construction industry professionals through the teaching and adoption of world class process systems engineering and innovation in science.
This elite programme will create intelligent and challenging leaders with the skills to drive the industry to the next level of achievement, pushing students to think creatively about society, technology, economics, environmental policy and their inter-relationships.
It will encompass the full spectrum of systems approaches from data networks in mechanical and electrical engineering through to the latest innovations in low-carbon energy technologies. The course modules will have a strong focus on sustainability and whole-life performance with topics including energy policy, systems safety and data transmission. The programme will be multidisciplinary, aiming to embrace a broad range of sectors, taught by experts in their fields drawn from academia, industry and government.
The Centre, led by the new Laing O’Rourke Professor in Systems Engineering at Imperial College London, Professor David Fisk, will also deliver undergraduate education, PhD and post-doctoral research and Executive Education. A key goal is to raise the profile of the construction industry, helping to generate excitement amongst young people, encourage them to consider careers in this field and then fast-tracking them through to senior management positions.
Professor Stephen Richardson, the Deputy Rector of Imperial College London and the Principal of its Faculty of Engineering says:
“Laing O’Rourke and the College already have a long history of working together, whether it’s through Laing O’Rourke’s investment in Imperial’s start-up companies and their innovations, or partnering with us for training via the business school. I am confident that this new partnership, which draws on Laing O’Rourke’s wealth of experience in the construction industry and Imperial’s expertise in science and innovation, will help to develop the professional skills of engineers from around the world to make the complex systems that run our cities more robust, energy efficient and cost effective.”
Ray O’Rourke says:
“There is no doubt that we are facing a serious skills shortage in all aspects of engineering. To address this crisis I believe the levels of co-operation between industry and academia must radically increase. We must join forces to find productive ways to develop the next generation of engineering pioneers, providing them with the skills to be able to tackle the complex social, economic and environmental challenges facing the planet. I’m keen that we imbue this Centre of Excellence with a sense of wonder in engineering, and an understanding within students that it will be engineers that deliver the solutions we need.
“Today’s announcement is another tangible example of the industry-leading role Laing O’Rourke is committed to playing in this regard, and we are excited by the prospect of sharing our vision and forging a mutually beneficial relationship with Imperial College, in line with our other educational partnerships.“
Professor David Fisk says:
“The complex design and construction of cities, European and international carbon reduction obligations, and rising energy costs are just some of the major challenges that engineers will face in the future. In designing this course we had in mind an ‘MBA for Engineering’ - a course that would stretch our best young engineers way out of their comfort zone, helping to mould them into the innovators and leaders that will tackle the challenges of tomorrow.”