met connect - Belfast Metropolitan College

met
connect
Autumn
2014
Where Education and Industry Meet
pg.1
Justin Edwards, Director of Curriculum at Belfast Met, receiving the Outstanding Service to Business Award
In this
Issue:
Engage with an
Award Winning Team pg.1
Enhancing the
technical skills
of local SMEs
pg.3
Speed
Creating
Creativity and
innovation at
Belfast Met
pg.6
Generate
New business
support
programme
launched
pg.5
Belfast Met wins Outstanding
Service to Business Award
Over 350 guests attended the British Airways sponsored gala event in the
Culloden Hotel. The award categories received a record number of entries
and the standard was said to be exceptional. The judging panel was
chaired by economist John Simpson and included senior executives from
Invest NI, Deloitte, Crescent Capital, NI Chamber of Commerce and CBI.
The quality of the College’s employer engagements has helped us to
develop award winning approaches to enhance the competiveness of
our business partners and the employability of our learners. Growing
numbers of students now benefit from learning and placements that help
them to prepare for employment post-graduation.
The College has a dedicated team which works out of the e3 building in
our Springvale Campus to support business development with a number
of specialist technical advisers working across key growth sectors
including ICT, Renewables, Engineering, Tourism and Hospitality. This
team works on a number of business programmes to support SMEs,
including the InnovateUS Programme, DEL Assured Skills, Invest NI
Innovation Vouchers, and ApprenticeshipsNI. The number of company
engagements, individual training and capacity building assignments
increased to close to 500 businesses.
Justin Edwards, Director of Curriculum at
Belfast Met, receiving the award
Our award submission highlighted the unique strength of Belfast
Met’s employer engagement and in doing so also demonstrated the
effectiveness of the close collaboration between the College’s Business
Development and Curriculum teams.
International Partnerships
Belfast Met’s staff, CPNV’s International Team and the Swiss students working at e3
Since January, Belfast Met has been fortunate to have three Swiss students working in the Business Development
and Computing Departments. As part of their course with the Centre Professionnel du Nor d Vaudois, based in
the Vaud Region of Switzerland, the students completed a five month work placement where they came to Belfast
Met to increase their english speaking skills and gain employment experience. The students are from a variety of
courses and have been completing work in engineering, ICT and graphic design.
“
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Working at e3 was the best way to have an overview of the business activities in Northern Ireland
and I feel very proud to have had the opportunity to work with such a professional team!
Joao Rodrigues
Swiss graphic design student
Training
Opportunities
at Windsor
Park Stadium
“
The Sports Minister Carál Ní Chuilín said
that this commitment will have significant
community benefits during the construction
period and beyond.
I welcome the fact that 32 long term unemployed
workers and 19 new apprentices will gain direct
employment as a result of this contract. In addition,
two student placements will be offered the
opportunity to gain valuable on-site experience,
and any contractor or sub-contractor working on
the build who employs more than 20 people must
ensure that at least 5% of their workforce are in
recognised apprenticeships.
Carál Ní Chuilín
Sports Minister
Improving Communication
www.belfastmet.ac.uk
in Health Care
Congratulations to ten domiciliary care workers
from South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
who recently achieved success on the completion
028 9026 5058
In social care, essential skills provision is identified
as a high risk, with major impact for employers and
the workforce of Northern Ireland in the future, if
adequate measures are not taken to address the
challenges posed by poor literacy, reading and
communication skills.
Belfast Met, in partnership with NISCC, has
developed vocationally contextualised materials
to support the delivery of essential skills
communication for social care workers. The
materials are designed to help learners achieve
a literacy qualification while at the same time
developing their knowledge and understanding of
the sector and their own responsibilities.
businessdevelopment@belfastmet.ac.uk
Belfast Met is working in partnership with
O’Hare & McGovern, main contractors for
the development, and the IFA to address
social and economic issues. This innovative
social clause will develop training
opportunities, creation of social enterprise
hubs, employability programmes,
placements and apprenticeships.
Windsor Park Stadium development partners
South Eastern Health & Social Care domiciliary workers successfully
complete their course
of the programme, with Orla Patterson, Belfast Met tutor.
Further roll out is planned within South Eastern Health &
Social Care Trust and Belfast Health & Social Care Trust.
@e3_belfastmet
On 2 May the first sod was cut for the
redevelopment programme at Windsor
Park Stadium. The upgrade will see the
stadium become state-of-the-art and
increase capacity from 14,000 to 18,000.
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Enhancing the
technical skills
of local SMEs
Amy Bond and Carol Little, Alanna Interiors with Aidan Browne at e3
Fintan Connelly rehearsing in e3’s TV studio
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Through the InnovateUs mentoring
programme, companies have been able
to utilise 30 hours fully funded technical
mentoring. Take Ten, a stress management
software company, benefited from media
mentoring over a three month period. This
covered live broadcast skill enhancement
in television and radio. The company was
able to utilise this when Fintan Connolly,
proprietor of Take Ten, was invited to be a
guest on a popular TV programme to provide
parents, teachers and students with advice on
managing stress in this season of coursework
deadlines and exams.
Alanna Interiors, a home furnishing and
fashion company, required skill enhancement
in broadcast media and cloud computing.
Through the InnovateUs programme the
company could tailor their requirements to
develop a bespoke solution to meet their skill
needs. Alanna Interiors enhanced their staff’s
techniques in radio and TV, with students also
participating in the project to help prepare
Amy and Carol for their interviews. The
bespoke tailored nature of the programme
greatly helped Amy and Carol to prepare their
business for further growth. In addition to
media mentoring, Alanna Interiors received
skill enhancement in how to use data from
the website to improve customer return,
implement search engine optimisation and
utilise cloud technology to produce cost
savings of up to 25% as their business
expands and seeks to reach new markets
both at home and abroad.
Model posing in the new bridal
wedding mac
More information on the
innovative CrystAl Rain
Mac can be found at
www.crystalrainmac.co.uk.
“
Working with Jeremy McMahon and Lorna Reid-Mullan from the College’s
textiles and fashion department, the company was able to design a
high tailored bridal rain mac made from specialised crystal PVC which
is transparent and fully waterproof. A unique aspect of the design was a
hidden, adjustable pocket at the back which carries the wedding dress
train keeping it clean, dry and completely off the floor.
An innovation voucher provides eligible companies with £4,000 to utilise
knowledge from a local college or university to develop a new product,
process or service. The innovation voucher enabled CrystAl Rain Mac to
turn a design idea into reality through materials research and guidance into
manufacturing processes leading to garment pattern design and a finished
prototype.
I am grateful for the support that Belfast Metropolitan College has given me
as a knowledge provider. Within less than two months, I had a paper pattern,
CAD design and a prototype signed and sealed ready for production by a UK
manufacturer. Their help and support has been amazing.
Marissa Murphy
Founder and designer of CrystAl Rain Mac Ltd.
businessdevelopment@belfastmet.ac.uk
www.belfastmet.ac.uk
Through an Invest NI Innovation Voucher, Belfast Metropolitan College
worked with Marissa Murphy, founder of CrystAl Rain Mac Ltd to develop
a new innovative rain mac, especially designed for brides.
028 9026 5058
turns bridal mac
concept into reality
for CrystAl Rain Mac
@e3_belfastmet
Innovation Voucher
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GENERATE
new business
opportunities
Does your company have the potential to
become a supplier in the renewable energy
market?
If the answer is ‘Yes’ and you are a small to
medium size business from either the Lisburn
City Council, Belfast City Council or Castlereagh
Borough Council area a new and exciting
business support programme called ‘Generate’
is now looking for companies to register.
Invest Northern Ireland Client Executive, Mary
Young said, “The programme will provide
businesses with access to specialist one-toone mentoring to help position them within the
supply chains of emerging markets for wind,
marine, bio-energy, smart-grid and energy
storage. The scale of the opportunities that
exist is extremely exciting and is continually
growing.”
Generate will help your business become fully
equipped to supply the fastest growing energy
sector.
Mary Young, Invest NI, Alderman Allan Ewart, Lisburn City Council,
Siobhan Lyons, Belfast Met
A key part of the programme is helping your business make the
right connections with the main players in the market. The type of
support your will receive includes:
• Specialist one-to-one mentoring to help your business
identify or develop existing projects in the renewable industry
• Participation on best practive and market development
visits
• Developing contacts with potential customers
• Taking part in key networking opportunities to showcase
your business to local and international renewable energy
companies
For further information on Generate check out www.generateni.com
Tel: 028 9026 5069 or email: info@generateni.com
“
Belfast Met is delighted to be delivering Generate and has extensive experience in developing
relationships with stakeholders from the renewable energy sector. We work closely with
industry leaders, have an experienced team on board and have a thorough understanding of
the renewable sector. We are excited about the Generate programme and are ready to share
information and research with companies across a wide range of sectors.
Siobhan Lyons
Head of Business Development at Belfast Met
Partners of the Generate Programme at the launch event
5
The Generate Programme is
part-funded by Lisburn City
Council, Belfast City Council,
Castlereagh Borough Council,
Invest Northern Ireland and the
European Regional Development
Fund under the Sustainable
Competitiveness Programme
for Northern Ireland. Generate
is being delivered by Belfast
Metropolitan College.
at Belfast Met
As part of creativity month, Belfast Met welcomed local businesses
to make new connections and avail of an interactive, engaging, taster
session on processing creativity in the workplace. Product Manager,
Ben Ramhofer from App Haus SAP Ireland, delivered an innovative talk
on how design space can kick start the innovation process and support
business growth.
This unique training opportunity helped participants learn about various
challenges and question the design thinking process, develop innovative
solutions to a sequence of briefs, actively transferring new ideas from
different perspectives into providing practical and helpful products and
services for the future.
www.belfastmet.ac.uk
This event was supported by Creative Cultural Skills and Northern Ireland Design Alliance
028 9026 5058
Participants thoroughly enjoyed the session and commented on how the
continuous change in group dynamics helped increase energy. Company
participants commented on how the model will help them apply design
thinking to their business planning processes.
@e3_belfastmet
Ben Ramhofer from App Haus
SAP Ireland and Nuala Kilmartin,
Belfast Met
businessdevelopment@belfastmet.ac.uk
Throughout this taster session, the participants worked in teams and
were guided through five phases – inspiring, conceptualising, refining,
planning and presenting. The participants followed the process, defining
problems, creating solutions and modifying and enhancing their ideas to
present innovative solutions.
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Industry Focus:
Life and Health Science
The Life and Health Science sector has been identified,
by the government sponsored MATRIX Report, as
strategically important to the NI economy; an area that
has the potential to grow new markets.
The scope of Life and Health Sciences includes Bio
Technology, Pharma, Connected Health and Care,
Medical Devices, Cosmetics/Dermatology and
Chemical/Microbiological Analytics. The sector is
represented locally by large companies such as Almac,
Norbrook and Randox, and innovative SMEs such as
CaraDerm, Torq and Beechwood laboratories.
Recently, new collaborations have been forged with
key stakeholders such as the European Connected
Health Alliance (ECHAlliance). This culminated in
a major Connected Health Conference in the e3
campus, with over 200 attendees. The diversity of
the Life and Health Science Sector was represented
at this event, from Clinicians to Care Providers to
Technology Entrepreneurs. Contact Karen McCann,
Business Development on tel: 028 9026 5069 for more
information.
About the facilities
The College is continuing to build on the strategic
relationships that it has forged with the sector. These
relationships started with the Bioscience Skills
Academy, and continued with the Employer Support
Programme (ESP), where Belfast Met led the FE sector
in Life and Health Science tailored support for industry.
A notable ESP project working with CaraDerm Skincare,
resulted in the College winning the prestigious Cogent
Life Science Award. Another project, with Beechwood
Laboratories, involved a key member of the School of
Applied Science working closely with the laboratory
manager on the development of an innovative analytical
method for fatty acid determination.
The college has significantly invested in the Life
and Health Science sector. The facilities in the
Titanic Quarter Campus are State of the Art. The
facilities include 10 dedicated laboratories and a
specialised Instrument Room housing both InfraRed and Ultra-Violet Spectrometers alongside
Gas Liquid Chromatogram Apparatus.
Belfast Met partners
with Health and Social Care Trusts
Belfast H&SC Trust employees celebrating their
achievement, with Marguerite Harmon-Walsh, Belfast Met.
7
Belfast Met is pleased to partner with Belfast Health & Social
Care Trust in the delivery of QCF Level 2 Diploma in Health
and Social Care. Recently 48 domiciliary workers completed
their training with Belfast Met and received certificates at the
Trust’s Celebration of Achievement Event in Belfast Castle.
Ms Catherine McNicholl, Director of Adult Social and Primary
Care, paid tribute to the staff who combined heavy work
schedules with the demands of the programme. Recognition
was given to the Belfast Met tutors who supported the staff
in meeting the increasing demands of their job role and in the
achievement of their qualification.
Doing business
at The Hub
Belfast Met was proud to host a Social Innovation Event in May
featuring Jonathan Robinson, founder of The Hub. The Hub
houses a mix of entrepreneurs through business incubation,
creative space to work and meet and acts as an innovation agent
to these businesses. The success of The Hub has lead it to being
established all over the world, in places as diverse as London,
Amsterdam, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Soweto and Mumbai.
to Industry
Through the Connected Programme, an introduction to
composites was held at the College. This course was
designed to provide an insight into materials used and typical
manufacturing processes. Importantly, our syllabus contains a
significant practical element where attendees can gain some
practical hands-on experience of laminating with composites;
an area often overlooked in composites training. The course
was attended by learners from local industry and higher
education, all coming from various backgrounds. Such courses
have proved useful for delegates in technical areas, materials
purchasers, HR, finance and management.
028 9026 5058
Belfast Met has completed delivery of a number of composite materials and manufacturing courses for Spirit
Aerosystems of Prestwick. The courses, delivered to engineering staff, have been designed to provide staff with
detailed knowledge and understanding of composites. Our experience in providing consultancy services to the
industry means real world examples based on the underlying theory form a key part of the delivery. This ensures
maximum benefits can be gained by delegates. The courses are accredited through the Composites Skills Alliance
which has strived to develop and deliver a high standard of composites tuition throughout the UK and Northern
Ireland.
businessdevelopment@belfastmet.ac.uk
Spirit Aerosystems Engineers
www.belfastmet.ac.uk
Delivering
Composites
Training
Course attendees in the Composites Workshop,
The Connected Program provides for the transfer of knowledge
between HE, FE and Industry
@e3_belfastmet
Glen McMahon and Marie-Therese McGivern,
Belfast Met with Jonthan Robinson, The Hub
Jonathan Robinson spoke to guests about his experience in
founding The Hub, where the idea came from, the challenges
that he had in both creating the idea and establishing it and how
Belfast can use this example to begin creating an innovative and
diverse hub to spark creativity and entrepreneurship within the
local economy.
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UK-India SME Growth Programme
Belfast Metropolitan College, partnered with the Bombay Chamber of
Commerce, has secured funding for a two year project through the UKIERI
(UK India Education and Research Initiative) Skills Development strand.
The project will draw on international best practice and collaborative
engagement with the SME sectors in the UK and India through a series of
workshops and masterclasses to improve organisational processes which will
enhance overall business performance.
It is anticipated that within the two year project over 200 businesses in
India and UK will benefit from becoming part of this highly lucrative SME
‘Partnership for Growth’ programme, developing international best practice
models and improving their use of ICT technology to improve supply chain
management. For more information on how your business can become
involved contact Glen McMahon on tel: 028 9026 5025.
Business
Incubation at e3
The BeckettHanlon Team
BeckettHanlon
The incubation suite at e3 is a unique, modern hub promoting innovation and start-up. As a creative and
collaborative environment, it is strategically placed to facilitate business incuabtion and add real value by
providing the right amount and type of trusted support at the right time. In 2013, BeckettHanlon moved into
the incubation suite.
BeckettHanlon is an international ‘lifestyle’ property
franchise. Its founder, Drew Beckett has a formidable
record of business success through his 30+ years
in the financial services sector and international
property sales. Drew was President of Sales for
Zurich UK and was the owner of Locations4U, the
highly successful property business. BeckettHanlon
is the evolution of Locations4U due to its success.
BeckettHanlon’s main focus is the client, ensuring
that they match them with the right property, through
careful understanding of the client’s true needs and
desires.
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“
The facilities are superb, providing the
perfect space to network with other
young businesses and college staff
alike. It offers the right space to train our
franchise partners and team members
and to present our business in the best
light to new clients. We have also been
able to avail of the expertise available
through the hub
Barry Kelly
BeckettHanlon Business Development Director
Improving
Business
Processes
Belfast Met, SERC and Michelin Team
at Michelin
In April, five members of Belfast Met Business Development team delivered a presentation to senior management
at Michelin highlighting areas for potential improvement, from cost and quality to health and safety. This
presentation marked the end of a five month training programme, funded by the Department for Employment and
Learning, where staff from Belfast Met and SERC used business improvement techniques to delve into Michelin’s
internal processes in both the manufacturing and office areas.
businessdevelopment@belfastmet.ac.uk
Meet at the Met: Titanic Quarter
Located in the heart of the historic Titanic Quarter,
the new £44 million state-of-the-art Belfast Met
campus offers organisers a number of meetings,
conferences and event facilities.
The central hall and adjoining conference room are
flat-floored flexible environments which operate
as one large space or two independent facilities,
overlooking Queens Road with panoramic views of
the River Lagan.
www.belfastmet.ac.uk
The lecture theatre is a modern, spacious and
bright venue boasting comfortable tiered seating
and equipped with writing pallets for delegates’
convenience. The boardroom offers a first-class
facility which allows for flexible alternative layouts to
suit any meeting requirements. An extensive range
of modern and dedicated seminar and training
rooms are located throughout the building.
Contact our friendly professional team for
assistance with the event planning process
tel: 028 9026 5046
or email: meet@belfastmet.ac.uk
@e3_belfastmet
The Titanic Quarter Campus is an ideal solution for
organisations looking for an inspirational venue.
All rooms offer natural daylight, balanced airconditioning and are fully equipped with built-in
audio-visual equipment to suit all your business
needs. To complement the wide range of facilities,
wi-fi internet connectivity is available throughout the
building.
028 9026 5058
Delegates can avail of two modern catering
venues, Café Met and the Linen Lounge finedining restaurant and bar. In addition, a number
of production and demonstration kitchens, one of
which includes a viewing gallery, are available to
hire; a perfect setting for a corporate event with a
difference.
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Business Development
Helping your business to transform, perform and achieve
We provide the following range of funded programmes and services to SMEs
Innovation Vouchers
Access up to £3,000 worth of FREE training
and technical mentoring for your business.
Access £4,000 worth of innovation expertise to
develop innovative projects for your business.
Knowledge
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Fusion Projects
Embark on a strategic part-funded graduate
programme to improve your business growth,
productivity and competitiveness.
Access a part-funded cross border programme
to develop business products, process or
services in science, engineering or technology.
Students
Projects
Placements
Provide project briefs to develop your business
and help students gain industry experience.
Provide vital work experience for students and
help develop your future workforce.
AUTUMN
InnovateUs
metconnect 2014
Innovation
Training
Customised Training
Apprenticeships
We can create a tailored training programme to
meet the objectives of your business.
Access an employer grant to help grow your
business by employing an apprentice.
Interest in finding out more about our SME services and programmes?
Contact Business Development, tel: 028 9026 5069 or email: businessdevelopment@belfastmet.ac.uk
@e3_belfastmet
028 9026 5058
www.belfastmet.ac.uk
businessdevelopment@belfastmet.ac.uk
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