BAE Systems opens £15.6m aerospace skills and training academy
BAE Systems opens £15.6m aerospace skills and training academyBAE Systems has opened a brand new £15.6m training academy today at Samlesbury, Lancashire – marking the single largest investment in skills for the UK’s aerospace sector.
The Academy for Skills & Knowledge (ASK) is 7,400m2 in size and situated on the Samlesbury Aerospace Enterprise Zone alongside BAE Systems’ military aircraft advanced manufacturing centre.
It will train all the apprentices and graduates in the Company’s military aircraft business as well as providing life-long learning and skills development activities for 13,000 employees for at least the next four decades. The ASK will also act as a collaborative skills-hub for the North West’s engineering and manufacturing sector and offer an exciting learning education centre for school children from five to 14 years old.
With 26 modern, light and airy classroom facilities, the ASK has been designed and built from scratch over three years - utilising the knowledge and experience of the Company’s training staff to provide the very best modern learning environment. It mirrors the latest advanced manufacturing technologies and factory layouts used at BAE Systems including robotics, 3D printers, a virtual reality 'cave', a composites clean room, electronics and welding facilities. In early 2017, the Academy will also accommodate a Hawk jet trainer for apprentices to understand the engineering complexity and build of an aircraft at first hand.
