Dassault Systèmes has launched its first EDU Centre of Excellence in the UK as part of a partnership with Cranfield University, joining a global network of 16 centres.
The campus facility in Bedfordshire – the only in Europe with its own airport and runway – will provide experiential, initial and lifelong learning with Dassault Systèmes’ 3DExperience platform, helping the existing and future workforce accelerate the digital and sustainable transformation of the aerospace industry.
The centre, which will officially open in September 2023, will offer learning opportunities combining virtual worlds on Dassault’s platform with real-life project learning in order to upskill the workforce of today and tomorrow.
Cranfield University will deliver courses and curricula designed in collaboration with aerospace employers and taught by platform-certified instructors to students and professionals wanting to upskill. The goal is to help learners boost employability by developing in-demand skills in virtual twin processes, data-driven manufacturing and sustainable design, in the context of existing and future job roles.
“The journey towards digitalisation and sustainability will only be possible if the right skills are developed within the workforce,” said John Kitchingman, MD Euronorth and Global VP for Customer Engagement, Dassault Systèmes.
“With an aging workforce and an acute shortage of technical and digital skills, we know businesses in aerospace are struggling to maintain a competitive edge at a time where leadership in business sustainability is required. The new 3DExperience Edu Centre of Excellence at Cranfield University will help to train and upskill the workforce of the future, helping the industry to continue to innovate sustainably by using digital technology.”
Cranfield University is a leading university in aerospace engineering with existing links to industry-leading businesses such as Airbus, BAESystems and Boeing, and says learners will benefit from this existing network as well as from Dassault Systèmes’ certification programme to validate skills and knowledge.
“We’ve chosen to partner with Dassault Systèmes because of the ecosystem it already has within the aerospace industry, as well as the cutting-edge technology it has developed through its modelling, simulation and optimisation industry software,” said Professor Dame Helen Atkinson DBE FREng, Pro-Vice Chancellor, School of Aerospace, Transport Systems and Manufacturing at Cranfield University.
“Its network of 3DExperience Edu Centres of Excellence across the world will also provide invaluable knowledge-sharing opportunities, and we’re excited to work together to foster sustainable innovation and empower the workforce of today and of tomorrow.”
