New Course will Fuel the Food Economy

29th September 2014

The food and drink manufacturing industry has welcomed the first entrants onto the country's first ever MEng Food Engineering degree programme, offered by Sheffield Hallam University.

The four-year master's level course which begins today (Monday 29 September) has been developed for the industry, by the industry, and will create a pool of specialist engineers equipped to meet the needs of the sector. The 15 students on the course will get the chance to gain the skills they need to become the engineers and leaders of tomorrow to position the UK as a global leader in food engineering. And representatives from major employers in the food and drink manufacturing industry met the new students at a mentoring event to celebrate the launch of the University's new degree. At the event, held on Thursday 25 September, students got the chance to meet industry leaders and managers from companies such as United Biscuits, PepsiCo and KP Snacks, Mondelēz International and Nestlé UK who will be mentoring them on the four-year course and providing valuable industry expertise and work placements. Ian Rigby, site engineering manager at PepsiCo UK and Ireland and one of the mentors on the programme, said: "This course comes after a three-year journey for PepsiCo. Back then, we were really struggling to recruit high engineering talent to fill some of our roles. "Our industry needs high-end talent to lead our engineering into the future. Enrolling on this course puts students in the shop window and this degree programme gives them the best chance of success in a competitive industry. "I wish I could wind the clock back and do the degree myself." Richard Martin, Technical Director at Nestlé UK and Chair of the Graduate Excellence Project said: "I am delighted that following fantastic collaboration across many food and drink Companies, we welcome our first students onto the MEng in Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam. I would like to thank all those in the Industry who have given their time to set up this unique degree course" These views were shared by student Blyth Mkonya, 33, from Bradford, who said: "This course is unique and the involvement from food companies makes it a really good opportunity. I'm so excited and looking forward to it. I've always wanted to be in the food industry." The course is the first degree dedicated entirely to the needs of the food and drink manufacturing sector. Many of the country's leading food and drink companies have already signed up to take students on work placements, run guest lectures and to offer other support.