Driving the Electric Revolution – PEMD (Power Electronics, Machines and Drives) Skills Hub

Innovate UK’s Driving the electric revolution challenge, part of UK Research and Innovation, will invest up to £1 million in a single project to create a Power Electronic, Machines and Drives (PEMD) skills hub. This is to support the challenge aims of creating world leading supply chains and expertise for the manufacture of PEMD in the UK.

The aim of this competition is to establish the hub as a lasting ‘platform’ that will connect training and education course providers with employers and learners. The hub will be accessible to new learners, professionals already working in PEMD, and those wanting to develop expertise in specialist areas.

The hub will impartially curate, organise and host a range of innovative and traditional courses that meets industry needs and encourages the community to share PEMD skills.

The funding will support:

• the development of the platform for the hub
• the development of a cohesive UK PEMD skills community
• operational costs for up to 36 months to enable the hub to become established

The hub must operate for at least 10 years in total from the date of the funding agreement being signed. You must be able to provide the necessary remaining operational investment from your own means to financially support the hub for the rest of this period after the grant draw-down has ended.

A briefing event was be held on Tuesday 16th November from 10am-12.30pm: click here to view the recording after the event).

Your project must:

• not claim more than £1 million grant
• start by 1st April 2022
• deliver an operational hub by 1 September 2022
• carry out its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results in the UK

We will fund a single project that will develop a platform, create the skills community and manage the hub.

The funding from UK Research and Innovation will end by 31 March 2025. This will be the end of the grant draw down period.

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must:

• be a UK registered business of any size, research organisation, research and technology organisation (RTO), academic institution, charity, not-for-profit, or public sector organisation
• demonstrate clear support for your application from education and training providers, across all qualification levels
• demonstrate clear industrial support for your application, covering a cross section of technologies and sectors
• have detailed knowledge of the power electronics, machines and drives skills landscape in the UK

If you would like to help to find a project partner, contact Dr Paul Huggett, KTM for Power Electronics, Machines and Drives.