HM The Queen opens Centre of Excellence for Biotechnology at City and Islington College
31 Mar 2011
Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, today (30th March 2011) visited City and Islington College’s Centre for Applied Sciences. As part of the visit The Queen unveiled a plaque announcing that the Centre has recently been accredited by the National Skills Academy Process Industries as a Centre of Excellence for Biotechnology.
During the visit to the centre, Her Majesty
and His Royal Highness toured the facility including the laboratories, teaching
rooms and library. Her Majesty met with members of staff and Dr Steve Jones,
Director of the Centre for Applied Sciences.
Dr Jones said, “Today is a day for the
history books. It is a great privilege to have Her Majesty officially open the
centre. For us it is a double celebration, as not only are we unveiling the the
Animal Care Centre, we are delighted to announce that we have achieved
accreditation from the National Skills Academy Process Industries as a Centre
of Excellence for Biotechnology.”
“By working with the Academy we will be
making a significant step towards meeting skills shortages in this emerging
technology which is vital to help the UK recover from the economic
downturn. We need to act now to secure our future global competitiveness.”
The new centre offers the latest technology
and industry standard equipment with close links to employers and universities.
The potential for biotechnology is
significant, as a form of advanced manufacturing it will transform industries
such as pharmaceuticals and medical biotechnology, including diagnostics.The bioeconomy has the potential to support
our daily lives in so many ways from the development of new approaches to
medicine and pharmaceuticals to the innovative farming of plants and animals as
well as the clean-up of environmental pollution.
The UK has a strong history of
leadership, innovation and research excellence in life sciences. With a GDP in
excess of £10Bn and over 60,000 employees, the biotechnology sector is
recognised as being critical to the UK economy, and has significant
growth forecast.
Philip Jones, Skills Academy CEO said,
“Today is really all about City and Islington
College, and we are
delighted to be a part of such a momentous occasion. The new centre is equipped
with all the latest technology and it will encourage people for many years to
come to enter careers in the science-based industries. You can’t come to a
centre like this and leave without feeling inspired about the future of science
in the UK.”
