May 2023 saw the start of exciting work at Leicester College as they embarked on a major refurbishment job at Abbey Park Campus.
The engineering and technology center will undergo a complete internal refurbishment to make way for new and updated facilities. This will allow students to learn with the latest equipment and technology to put them on the path of their future careers and support the local economy to advance their skills and provide engineering knowledge and skills for the future. Costing over £3 million, the Department of Education provided over £1 million for T-level equity grant finance projects.
In addition to replacing and upgrading machines and workshops, the new facility will feature state-of-the-art CNC (computer-controlled) engineering and manufacturing equipment. This includes a robotics and industrial control lab, where students will be able to develop their programming skills, learn about modern equipment and manufacturing processes, and also find out about microcontrollers, which are used to control everything from washing machines to spacecraft. .
In addition, new facilities will be installed in several world-class laboratories, which will develop skills in mechanical engineering, electronic design and development, mechanical science, and electrical measurement and testing.
Students will benefit from access to extra IT facilities in a new computerized suite that will feature the latest design software on up-to-date computers. In addition, students will be able to discover how the “brains” of many modern and automated production lines work in the new laboratory of pneumatics, hydraulics and PLC (programmable logic controllers).
Tom Sewell, Regional Director at Stepnell, said: “Having worked consistently on projects in the education sector and with several currently underway in Leicester, we are looking forward to working on our third project with Leicester College in refurbishing Abbey Park Campus to create a space of enhanced learning that will educate the engineers of the future.”
The work is expected to be completed by fall 2023.
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