UK's first Gene Haas Centre for Advanced Manufacturing opens in Sutton

It comes after the college formed a partnership with the Gene Haas Foundation. The link-up will see the Mansfield-based college awarded £500,000 to develop its engineering facilities and training programmes, aimed at growing the number of skilled manufacturers in the area.

It will fund improvements to the college’s Engineering Innovation Centre, on Oddicroft Lane, Sutton, by remodelling the building to dedicate a larger area of its ground-floor to manufacturing, automation and robotics.

A new mezzanine floor containing classrooms overlooking the existing open-plan workshop space will also be constructed.

The building, which currently boasts six Haas computer numerical control machines used by engineering students and apprentices, will be rebranded as the Gene Haas Centre for Advanced Manufacturing.

Andrew Cropley, college principal and chief executive, said: “I am immensely proud West Nottinghamshire College is now home to the UK’s first Gene Haas Centre for Advanced Manufacturing.

“It is a great accolade for us that the world’s third-largest manufacturer of machine tools has put its faith in us to bear its name and be its partner.

“This speaks volumes about how hard we are trying to work with local employers to create a skilled workforce that will meet their needs today and give them confidence in their ambitions to grow.

“I am excited to see how our already excellent engineering facility will develop through this partnership but, even more so, to see how the experience we can offer our students will develop and become richer and even more exciting.

“I can’t wait to explore a range of development opportunities for our staff, not just in their technical skills in using the machines but also, through the international community of Gene Haas Centres, to improve the way they use those machines to enhance the skills of our students and our apprentices.”

The Gene Haas Foundation is a US-based grant-giving organisation set up by the founder of Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool builder in North America, and the Haas Formula 1 motor racing team.

College leaders, teachers, students, engineering employers, local dignitaries and representatives of Haas UK came together at the centre for the official unveiling of the partnership, which involved tours, demonstrations of its CNC machines, speeches and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Special guest was Kathy Looman, foundations director of education grants, who flew in from its headquarters in California.

She said: “West Nottinghamshire College was selected because of its innovation, and collaboration with local industry as well as the community and schools.

“It is creating a pipeline of talent for the future. This process, and now having visited the college, has assured me this will be a long and fruitful partnership.”

The centre will sit at the heart of the emerging Ashfield Technology Campus, a zone that will bring together planned major capital projects spearheaded by Ashfield Council, Nottingham Trent University, West Nottinghamshire College and both local and national employers to provide a comprehensive skills and support offer to technical businesses.