On Tuesday 19th March, we officially opened the new, £5.1m education and training centre for advanced courses in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in the heart of West Bromwich town centre.

Funded by Sandwell College, the Towns Fund and the Department for Education, the ‘Central Saint Michael’s: Sandwell Science, Engineering & Manufacturing Centre’ welcomed guests to mark its official opening.

The new 900sqm centre for education and training supports higher and advanced level skills and qualifications for students at both Central Saint Michael’s Sixth Form and Sandwell College.

Guests at the special launch event had the opportunity to enjoy a tour of the centre and see its state-of-the-art facilities first-hand, try their hand at using some of the latest education technologies and talk with students. These include electrical and mechanical labs, digital computer labs and computer aided design (CAD), a school of physics and electronics, an engineering laboratory virtual instrumentation suite (ELVIS) and, in a first for the Black Country, a ‘festo suite’ aiming to prepare people, companies and organisations for the digital future in production and new technologies.

Part of West Bromwich’s Knowledge Quarter, the centre is one of ten education and skills projects within the £1.8 billion Regenerating Sandwell masterplan and will prepare hundreds of young people and adults for future life, higher skilled jobs and university.

The centre will partner with a wide range of businesses to offer academic, vocational and apprenticeship courses to help fill the national skills gap in advanced STEM jobs and reskill the workforce.

Graham Pennington, Principal and Chief Executive of Sandwell College said: “We are delighted to officially open our new specialist STEM centre, which provides high calibre academic, technical and apprenticeship qualifications, and will help address the national skills gap in advanced STEM jobs.

This is an important moment for the College, West Bromwich and the Borough, reflecting all our commitments to regeneration and investment for the next generation of local residents. “We’re so proud that this opening marks a true milestone in STEM investment and we’d like to thank Sandwell Council and the Towns Fund for their continued support.

Our centre provides new and exciting opportunities for young people and adults and we look forward to welcoming even more students in to West Bromwich in the coming years.”