TEDI-London closes diversity and skills gaps

IMAGE: Students engage in practical teamwork at TEDI-London

Innovation, ideas and up-to-the-minute engineering skills will all be needed in the new town centre we’re building at Canada Water. Helping equip a new generation to support a sustainable future for us all is engineering higher education provider TEDI-London (full name The Engineering & Design Institute London), which celebrates its third birthday this month.

The campus, housed in a handsome timber-fronted building off Quebec Way, incorporates makerspaces where students come together to create and collaborate, using 3D printers, digital prototyping (where virtual 3D models are computer-tested to see how they will perform in the physical world) and other cutting-edge techniques to hone their ideas. The building also houses conference and teaching rooms, a double-height exhibition/event space and a cafeteria as well as indoor and outdoor spaces where students can relax.

IMAGE: The TEDI-London campus off Quebec Way

TEDI-London was co-founded in collaboration between three global universities – King’s College London, Arizona State University and the University of New South Wales in Sydney. The goal was to transform engineering higher education and diversify the range of people entering the sector. Scholarships are available for eligible Southwark residents and there’s a bursary scheme to support lower-income applicants. The Institute also aims to play an active role in the life of the community. Earlier this year it launched a repair café where local people brought in their slow or damaged electrical devices to be diagnosed and where possible repaired, with some attendees learning some skills so they could fix their own items. Students were able to divert seven electrical items from landfill – a saving of 26.8kg in carbon emissions.

Three years on, the team at TEDI-London are delighted to see how their first students have developed their theoretical knowledge, practical application and workplace skills as they progress through the Global Design Engineering programme. So far the institute has enrolled 67 students, with 22 in the inaugural intake and a further 45 joining last year. This month they enrolled 55 more students. That inaugural cohort will receive TEDI-London’s first degrees, with the BEng in Global Design Engineering to be presented at a graduation ceremony held in Southwark Cathedral in July 2024.

Professor Judy Raper, Dean and CEO at TEDI-London said: “TEDI-London stems from a vision to help close two key gaps in the industry: the diversity gap and the skills gap. Through serving a range of genuine clients, from industry partners to businesses, our Global Design Engineering programme also facilitates numerous industry networking opportunities for students – many of whom have found summer internships through the connections they have made. We're very much looking forward to seeing what our final year students achieve before they graduate in July 2024.”

IMAGE: Students at TEDI-London learn through hands-on design engineering projects

In addition to the degree programme, TEDI-London also runs winter and summer schools where students can get a flavour of what it’s like to work in engineering. The 2023 edition of their Summer School centred on British Land’s Canada Water development. Students from London, US and Australia spent three weeks exploring local and global transport projects alongside industry partners, before developing their own sustainable, community-focused design ideas. The students were guided through a design ‘sprint’ and imagined connectivity and transport infrastructure in Canada Water. Their solutions encouraged community engagement and proposed a range of logistical interventions aimed at making Canada Water less dependent on cars. The students were supported by many industry experts who made time for TEDI-London and its students, helping to inspire and critique the students’ approaches; from financial viability to urban planning feasibility, value proposition to local community engagement.

UNSW student Kelsey O’Grady, who attended this year’s summer school, said: “My favourite thing about TEDI has been getting to see all of Canada Water and their existing infrastructure. We got to go and look at the development locations and it was great to see what they’re working with and then where they want to take it.”

To find out more about what TEDI-London has to offer, visit https://bit.ly/3LA5AqD