From Victorian mills to factories of ideas
By Sir Patrick Stewart, Chancellor, University of Huddersfield
My home turf is the West Riding of Yorkshire and during my boyhood it was a very different place. In terms of sights, sounds and even smells it was much more obviously industrial, one of the great manufacturing regions of the North of England. My life went in a completely different direction, of course, but I still think of myself as a lad from a hard¬working part of the world where we made things for a living.
Nowadays, it is more common to describe the West Riding and regions like it as post-industrial. Most of the mines and the mills have closed and the factories have been flattened to make way for superstores.
But that is not the whole picture, by any means.The fact is that Yorkshire, in common with most of Britain’s industrialised regions, can still boast a great many successful and innovative firms. And to be more successful, they need to become even more innovative in order to compete in the global market and make their contribution to the rebalancing of the regional and the national economy, which we all recognise – whatever our political outlook – as being vital to our future prosperity.
It goes without saying that unless we teach and train the next generation of experts in every field, from science and technology to arts and humanities, then regional growth will be stopped in its tracks.
So if innovation is the key, where will it come from? The R&D departments of companies play a crucial role, of course, and there will always be inspired individuals with the vision to develop new products or solve difficult problems.
But the universities of Britain, staffed by expert researchers in every field of science and technology, and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, are surely our best source for innovation and therefore the industrial growth and the employment that comes with it.
As Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, I never cease to be fascinated and amazed by the amount of expertise that we have on the premises. It ranges from informatics to nanotechnology, precision engineering to organic chemistry, from biofuels to brake technology, from logistics to particle physics, from diagnostic engineering to product design…
Even if I stretched that paragraph to double its length, I would still be afraid of leaving something out, so I have given a flavour only.
We have a great many modern buildings on our campus, but many of our researchers are housed within specially-adapted Victorian mills. They are handsome structures and they are still factories – factories of ideas. They are certainly not ivory towers, because the scientists and engineers behind those stone walls are continually engaged with the real world of modern industry. There are many instances at the University of Huddersfield of our research groups forming close partnerships with leading firms, solving problems for them and helping to develop new products and processes.
One example from many is a unit named IPOS, which stands for Innovative Physical Organic Solutions. Housed in a superbly equipped new suite of labs, it has been awarded a multi-million pound grant by the European Regional Development Fund, and a key condition is that the unit works closely with at least 50 firms in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Many other instances of partnerships between University of Huddersfield researchers and industrial companies could be cited. And while I am naturally anxious to stress the dynamism of my own institution, every other member of University Alliance is seeking and forming such partnerships. It seems obvious, therefore, that centres of excellence in higher education have a central role to play in regional and national growth.
I have stressed the research role of universities. But their other dimension, of course, is the educational one. It goes without saying that unless we teach and train the next generation of experts in every field, from science and technology to arts and humanities, then regional growth will be stopped in its tracks. But it is also worth emphasising that even while they are engaged in their undergraduate or postgraduate studies, students on virtually all courses at Huddersfield are expected to undertake work placements and internships. This not only gives the students a feel for employment, but in many cases they can make a stimulating contribution to the companies which they join.
So it seems undeniable that universities are important engines for growth in the regions they serve. This is nothing new. If we trace the roots of the University of Huddersfield, for example, we find that they originate in nineteenth¬century educational initiatives designed to meet the needs of local industry. Today those needs are more complex and diverse and universities are therefore more important than ever.
My workplace is the stage and my industry is the film industry. They both make a significant contribution to the economy and the culture of Britain and its regions. And it is vital that we continue to train and nurture talented actors, writers, musicians, artists, designers and historians, of course.
But creativity exists in every field of endeavour. As I write, building work has begun on a new structure at the University of Huddersfield. Named the Enterprise and Innovation Centre, it will cost some £12 million and more than half of the funding has come from the European Regional Development Fund. It will be an exciting building and will serve as a space where innovative entrepreneurs, ambitious small companies and large, established firms will be able to forge closer links than ever with the research expertise and technical facilities of the host university.
It will be of immense practical benefit to the locality and the region but it will also serve as a powerful symbol of the way in which universities and enterprise can unite and work together to achieve economic growth.
Sir Patrick Stewart has had a distinguished career in theatre, film and television. He is Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield where he is also Professor of Performing Arts.
