RESILIENCE – Your Front Door to Medicines Manufacturing Training
02 October 2024
RESILIENCE exhibited at the Careers Event organised by UK Careers Fair at the Assembly Halls in Edinburgh on the 02nd of October 2024. Doors opened to the public at 10 am, welcoming over 200 job seekers from all backgrounds, experience and education levels, to offer them the opportunity to speak to representatives from an abundance of local, regional & national employers.
The RESILIENCE Team, represented by the Centre’s group at Heriot-Watt University, showcased the centre’s mission and core activities, and engaged in conversations with more than 100 candidates about careers in medicine manufacturing and how RESILIENCE can support them.
“Our stall and particular the VR headsets sparked lots of interest, and we saw an endless stream of people coming to our stall, curious to find out what RESILIENCE has to offer” said Nicole Barnes the centre’s Digital Technology Fellow & Outreach Communications Manager at Heriot-Watt University.
Attendees were able to explore the breadth of career options in medicines manufacturing and the team explained how RESILIENCE will support the sector by training and developing a “fit for purpose” and digitally competent workforce.
“People were blown away by the RESILIENCE approach, revolutionising teaching and training through the use of novel technologies such as cutting edge virtual and augmented reality” said Laura Porcza RESILIENCE Digital Learning Associate & Outreach Coordinator.
Nicole and Laura were delighted to be joined by Katie Goodlad, a placement student from FlexBio, IBioIC’s Bioprocessing & Scale-up facility hosted at Heriot-Watt University. “It was a fantastic experience to promote RESILIENCE at this event. I had lots of engaging discussions about the benefits of virtual training programmes and how access to FlexBio’s facilities and training helps drive biotech & biomanufacturing skills across the UK.”
In addition to exploring how cellular therapy is developed in the lab and taking a dive into the components of a cell in virtual reality, attendees also had the opportunity to complete a short survey using augmented reality. The team was thrilled that so many people filled out the questionnaire on the VR headsets, as it provided invaluable insight into how familiar the participants were with VR and what they would like to use it for.
The RESILIENCE team were pleased with the turnout and especially the interest amongst attendees to sign up and follow the centre on LinkedIn to learn more about the RESILIENCE programme. Talking to career starters and returners confirmed the importance of a national training network and provided the team with valuable feedback on current offerings and made them aware of new areas to focus on in the future.
“Talking to career starters and returners confirmed the importance of a national training network and provided us with valuable feedback on our current offerings and made us aware of new areas to focus on in the future” said Nicole Barnes.
If you want to be part of the journey get in touch today, or better still JOIN US for our regional event in Scotland (Glasgow) on 5th of December, and don’t forget to watch out for forthcoming opportunities and regular announcements on LinkedIn.