A new agreement signed in London paves the way toward a closer partnership between two leaders in innovation.
A new relationship between Imperial College Business School and Finmeccanica, an international engineering company, was this week formalised by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. The first stage of the relationship is the provision of teaching on the company's young talent training programme, known as the FHINK Master's in International Business Engineering.
Finmeccanica chose the Business School because of the School's recognised excellence in innovation and entrepreneurship, as evidenced in the recent research assessment exercise. Finmeccanica is also looking to attract a greater number of Imperial science and engineering graduates to the FHINK programme.
The group employs over 73,000 people globally. Each year it supplements this with the best engineering, science and management Master's students or those with a good degree in these areas and a years relevant work experience.
Sir Kevin Tebbit, Finmeccanica's UK chairman, was at the London signing. During the ceremony he said:
"This new agreement represents another important step forward for Finmeccanica's professional training system and HR development programme in the UK. We're a natural partner for Imperial College Business School because we share the same ethos: a technology-led future developed in collaboration with innovative partners."
Imperial's Rector, Sir Roy Anderson also attended the ceremony to welcome the College's new partners. He echoed Sir Kevin's comments and said he was looking forward to developing the relationship in the future. "Scientific innovation is what gives a competitive edge and ensures prosperity. A close working relationship between universities and industry is vital if we are to both make the breakthroughs and translate them into products for the marketplace," he said. "It is also a tremendous opportunity for engineering graduates, and one I hope that Imperial students may take advantage of."
The FHINK programme has attracted a total of 15,000 applications from 121 countries over the last three years. The training programme leads to employment for the most able candidates. Each year 30 candidates, typically in their mid-twenties, are selected for the 12 month programme in Rome. During this time candidates are taught by foremost experts in project management, innovation management, technology and operations management and international sales. Successful candidates are then matched to suitable, management roles in one of the many operating companies that make up Finmeccanica.
David Begg, Principal of the Business School explained that some on campus events were being planned to help raise awareness of the FHINK programme amongst the Imperial College student community. He also welcomed the company to the College's corporate network that includes partner organisations like BP, BAE, Rolls Royce and GSK. "In the global environment, we must actively seek and engage with the best partners," he said. "Today, we're proud of the new agreement and the hard work of the team that made this possible from both organisations."
This October's FHINK cohort will be taught by Imperial College Business School academics who will also develop case study materials through research of Finmeccanica's defence, transport, security and space companies.
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For media enquiries about the Business School, please contact Elliott White - 0207 594 9154 or e.white@imperial.ac.uk
For information about the FHINK programme, please click here.
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