Every year the UK produces fewer engineers that it needs and employers, both locally and nationally, have opportunities for highly skilled young people. Our founding members - The University of Sunderland, Hitachi Rail Europe and Gestamp Tallent - led the development of UTC South Durham and take an active role in curriculum development and experience development opportunities.
The University of Sunderland is one a new generation of civic universities, innovative, accessible and outward looking, with global influence and remarkable local impact. Excellent teaching, internationally recognised research and an extensive business engagement portfolio all contribute to the University's success.
Hitachi Rail Europe is one of the most signficant inward investors in County Durham. The company is a total railway system supplier offering rolling stock, traction equipment, signalling, traffic management systems and maintenance depots. Hitachi Rail Europe draws on many years of experience as a leading supplier of metro, commuter and high-speed trains such as the Shinkasen (bullet train) for the Japanese and international markets.
Gestamp Tallent Ltd is part of Gestamp Automocion, an international group dedicated to the design, development and manufacture of metal components and structural systems of the automotive industry. Today, Gestamp Automocion is present in 22 countries, has 95 production centres across the world and employs over 25,000 people. In line with the demands of global customers for a global supply network, Gestamp has a truly international business, but the British operation has remained as robust as ever. As one of five plants within the UK, the Newton Aycliffe plant is one of the region's largest employers with a workforce of over 1,400 people.