Supporting maritime students through industrial partnerships
A key pillar to our success is the many partnerships we have with the maritime industry and none more so than with the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights. Established 700 years ago the aim of the Shipwrights’ Company was to safeguard the quality of shipbuilding and centuries on it continues to play an active role in championing and investing in the maritime industry.
As part of that work the company provides bursaries for two University students. The University is one of only three higher education institutions to benefit from this philanthropic work of the organisation due to the quality of courses on offer in the marine sector. The Clerk to the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, Richard Cole-Mackintosh, explains: “The Shipwrights’ Company only has a finite amount of funding so the universities we support are selected because the courses on offer are directly applicable to the roots of the Company and its future".
Students benefiting from the bursaries include Moriba Konate (MEng Ship Science, second year) and Nick Jones (MEng Ship Science, third year), who both agree that the bursaries have enabled them to pursue their careers in the maritime industry.
Along with the bursaries the Shipwrights' Company also awards a £1,000 prize to the student who excels in their third year exams.
SMMI member and Ship Science Lecturer, Professor Philip Wilson said "this enormously generous scheme has directly benefited students who are disadvantaged in many different ways to be able to continue and enhance their educational experience at Southampton on the Ship Science degree".
Each year the University also hosts the annual Shipwrights’ Lectures where the organisation invites leading lights from the industry to talk about their expertise to an audience of over 300 apprentices, students and employers from across the county.
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