STEM Workshops in Solihull

Solihull's engineering story starts with a secret. In 1936 the government bought two farms on Lode Lane and built a shadow factory, ready for war. From 1940 Rover made Bristol Hercules aero engines there for Britain's bombers. When peace came, Rover moved its whole operation from bomb-damaged Coventry to Solihull, and in 1948 the first Land Rover rolled off the Lode Lane line. The Range Rover followed in 1970 and has been built in the borough ever since. More than two million Series Land Rovers and Defenders were produced at Solihull across a 67-year run.

The Land Rover was brought to production at Lode Lane, developed by Rover's engineering team under technical director Maurice Wilks in 1947 and 1948, and Solihull-trained engineers have shaped vehicles driven worldwide ever since. The borough has produced quieter pioneers too. Alan Cox, born in Solihull in 1968, became one of the most influential developers of the Linux kernel, the software that now runs most of the world's servers and every Android phone. Sir David Baulcombe, born in Solihull in 1952, is a plant scientist whose work on gene silencing won the 2008 Lasker Award and helped transform modern genetics.

Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant remains the borough's engineering heart, building Range Rover models and preparing for the fully electric Range Rover as part of JLR's multi-billion-pound electrification programme. Solihull is also the borough where Birmingham Airport and the NEC sit, and the HS2 Interchange station now under construction at Arden Cross will anchor the UK Central growth area, with plans for up to 27,000 jobs and a health technology campus developed with the University of Warwick. Solihull College & University Centre supports this economy from its Blossomfield and Woodlands campuses, with engineering workshops, a robotics lab and industry-grade aerospace training equipment.

A Solihull pupil can see a complete STEM career path without leaving the borough. Solihull College & University Centre runs engineering and aerospace courses at its Woodlands campus in Smith's Wood, where students train on a real BAe Jetstream aircraft and a Boeing 737 flight simulator. Jaguar Land Rover recruits apprentices, technicians and graduate engineers for the Lode Lane plant, with electrification creating demand for new skills. Birmingham Airport and the NEC employ engineers and technical teams year-round, and the Arden Cross development around the HS2 Interchange is planned to support up to 27,000 jobs, including a health technology campus linked to the University of Warwick.