JLR centre inspiring future engineers

There were 1,225 young visitors to the centre in the first 12 months.

It is one of six across JLR sites in the UK supporting the company's Inspiring Tomorrow's Engineers education programme which will engage at least two million young people in education activities in the UK and overseas by 2020.

The event coincided with a visit by Year 6 pupils from St Peter and Paul Catholic Primary Academy an Nursery in Wolverhampton, who helped EMC operations director Trevor Leeks cut a celebration cake.

The visiting pupils toured the site and got to grips with the latest technology, all designed to bring engine manufacturing to life. They used a holographic table to project images of the Ingenium engines produced at the EMC and learned how to control miniature versions of the manufacturing robots.

Since it opened in June 2015, more than 94% of the visitors have been from the West Midlands, including 36 per cent from the Wolverhampton area. The Centre is run with Staffordshire County Council, South Staffordshire Council, Wolverhampton City Council and Wolverhampton College.

Mr Leeks said: "The EMC's EBPC, alongside those in our other facilities in the UK, is a vital element of Jaguar Land Rover's education programme, enabling pupils to engage with employees and learn about design, engineering and manufacturing and learn about the world of work.

"This supports our commitment to inspire the next generation to study STEM-related subjects at GCSE and beyond so they can pursue careers in the automotive industry. We are the only automotive manufacturer in the UK to run EBPCs at our sites and we're very proud to work in partnerships with our local school to enrich education and showcase the exciting and varied career opportunities at our facility.

"I'd like to thank the EBPC team for their hard work over the last 12 months, as well as the many employees, especially our fantastic apprentices, who have supported a range of visits, events and other engagement opportunities. I look forward to seeing more students at the centre in the next year and hope that one day, we'll welcoming some of these young people back to the facility as the next generation of employees."

Elizabeth Love, the centre manager, said: "We're delighted to have welcomed over 1,200 visitors to the centre over the last year as we've established ourselves as one of the leading education centres in the region.

"We're looking forward to attracting even more visitors in the next academic year and will be offering more opportunities for children of all ages to learn about engine design and manufacture. With our support, Jaguar Land Rover's school STEM programme engaged with over 686,000 young people last year and we are delighted to play our part in raising awareness of the fantastic career opportunities EMC offers to local pupils."