Dear colleagues,
I hope this finds you well and refreshed after the September holiday weekend.
This week, the impressive milestone of eight million vaccinations in Scotland was reached – another significant advance in the battle against COVID-19. In total, 84% of the over-16 population is now fully vaccinated with two doses.
This heartening news was reflected in another significant fall in the number of cases, which are down almost one-fifth in Scotland in the past week alone.
Here at Strathclyde, the hard work we have collectively put in to planning for our students’ safe return to campus also appears to be paying off. As the First Minister pointed out in her Statement to Parliament on Tuesday, there has not been an increase in cases coinciding with the return of universities.
However, we cannot afford to be complacent, and I would like to thank you for your ongoing efforts in keeping our students and staff as safe as possible. As we move into Autumn and Winter, it is particularly important that we adhere to the guidance.
Equally, testing remains an important step in ensuring that we minimise the risk of virus transmission. The Scottish Government is encouraging everyone to carry out twice weekly testing at home, three to four days apart.
With that in mind, I am delighted to tell you that we have opened a Collection Centre on campus for students and staff to pick up Lateral Flow Test kits to use at home. The facility opened today, Thursday 30 September, and can be found in the Livingstone Tower Café Area (LT 110/LT111). It is open from 12 noon to 4pm, five days a week from Monday to Friday.
If you are not working on campus, or are based in another location, you can continue to order Lateral Flow Tests online or pick them up from other community sites. You can find out more information about this on the Government’s website. Please remember, Lateral Flow Tests are for people with no COVID-19 symptoms. If you have symptoms, you should organise a PCR test instead, using NHS Inform. Thank you for your ongoing support and vigilance.
In other news this week, I was pleased to welcome Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Higher and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training, to the site of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, operated by Strathclyde. Mr Hepburn was joined on the visit by local MSP, Natalie Don. They were particularly interested in the roll the Manufacturing Skills Academy is playing in the national skills agenda when they made the visit on Tuesday, and met with a number of our students and postgraduates.
While its building near Glasgow Airport will not open until next year, the Institute is already making a significant impact, supporting and developing the manufacturing workforce and undertaking collaborative research and PhD projects with a large group of industrial partners from multiple sectors. By bringing together industry, academia and the public sector, it will transform the future of manufacturing and create jobs, improve productivity, and support Scotland and the UK’s economy as we recover from the global pandemic.
The Minister’s visit came just a week after one of our longstanding partners, Spirit Europe, launched a state-of-the-art global centre for the design and digital manufacturing of next generation aerostructures in Prestwick.
The Spirit AeroSystems Aerospace Innovation Centre (AIC) manufacturing base has been established as a centre of excellence for the research and development of advanced materials, digital manufacturing technologies and processes, where Spirit Europe will collaborate with industry and academic partners to innovate, train and develop skills for today and tomorrow.
Spirit’s investment in its new innovation centre will further strengthen our partnership and help to ensure we continue to co-create world-class, cutting edge technologies. I look forward to watching the Institute, and Spirit’s new Centre, go from strength to strength.
Enjoy the rest of your week and please stay safe and well.
Best wishes,
Jim