New 'drone degree' fantastic news for the county, says Hereford and South Herefordshire MP
The autonomous robotics degree is set to launch at Hereford-based university NMITE in September, with further details of the course being announced earlier this week
Hereford and South Herefordshire's MP has praised the launching of an army backed 'drone degree' at the region's university.
From this September, the Hereford-based New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering (NMITE) will welcome people onto its autonomous robotics degree, following an agreement being reached in December between them and the UK Armed Forces to develop the course.
It announced further details about it earlier this week, which is to be supported by a £240,000 investment from the Ministry of Defence.
Conservative member of parliament Jesse Norman, who is also the chair of NMITE, has labelled it a big investment for the area.
"It's absolutely fantastic for NMITE, for young people in Herefordshire, older people in Herefordshire who might want to go to university, it's fantastic for the county," he said.
"This creates a whole suite of new opportunities for people who are thinking about university, or may even not be thinking about university, to go somewhere where they can study really high quality practical projects that lead to a master's degree.
"What's so exciting about the drones degree, this new autonomous robotics degree, is that whether you're interested in defence and security or everything else, this is a degree that will have value whatever you're doing."
The three-year course will train 15 civilian students and up to five soldiers a year as drone technology specialists and will also allow students to complete the qualification one year faster than traditional university courses.