A new Technology and Innovation Centre has been officially opened at UHI North, West and Hebrides’ Stornoway campus following a £2.3 million investment.

As well as increasing the college’s capacity for on-campus learners, the new Centre will allow for an expansion of the curriculum in areas like renewable energy, engineering, construction and the built environment, sustainability and net zero.

The modernised facility includes a Future Energy Lab, which will support research into renewable energy technologies, a Newton Room, designed to offer primary and secondary school pupils hands-on experience in STEM subjects, and virtual welding simulators for engineering students and apprentices.

The investment will also allow UHI North, West and Hebrides to support the Just Transition to Net Zero and help in the creation of a skilled workforce needed by employers, developers and major investors in the renewable energy sector throughout Scotland.

UHI North, West and Hebrides hopes to build on its reputation within the renewables sector, with the college currently the only provider of Scotland’s sole SQA recognised qualification for engineering technicians dedicated to hydrogen, with the Centre helping to support a talent pipeline for the energy sector.

“These facilities will equip people from the islands with skills to grasp the career opportunities afforded by renewable energy,” said deputy first minister Kate Forbes.

“The centre will help rural communities to thrive by helping them to attract and retain more young people.”

The Technology and Innovation Centre is the first capital project to be delivered under the Islands Growth Deal, a ten-year package that aims to drive economic growth across Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides, with the hope of creating up to 1300 sustainable jobs.

The majority of the project has been financed by the Scottish Government, which provided £1.5 million through the Islands Growth Deal, along with funding from the Islands Programme Fund, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and UHI.

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“This investment ensures our campus has the engineering, technology and innovation facilities required by industry, and strengthens our capacity to support STEM skills and meet both current and emergent workforce needs from island-based, national and international employers, investors and developers,” said Lydia Rohmer, principal and chief executive of UHI North, West and Hebrides.

“It will allow more people to study, live and access high value jobs locally, and further positions UHI North, West and Hebrides as the go-to academic provider for education, skills and research for the energy sector.”

UHI North, West and Hebrides will be holding a series of open afternoons at the Technology and Innovation Centre throughout May for members of the public, employers, and prospective students to tour the facilities and find out more about studying engineering.  

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