First Minister Eluned Morgan visits Wrexham University
The EEOC, which is expected to be completed soon, is the first construction project under the North Wales Growth Deal.
Professor Joe Yates, vice-chancellor of Wrexham University, said: "We were delighted to welcome the First Minister to the University today and proudly showcase our incredible facilities – in particular, our Enterprise Engineering and Optics Centre, which is due to open at the start of the next academic year in September, as well as our cutting-edge Health Simulation Centre.
"The visit also provided us with a welcome opportunity to highlight our newly launched 2030 Vision and Strategy, and also shine a light on how higher education institutions have a crucial role to play in helping to shape a more resilient and prosperous Wales.
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"Our work in building skills but also strengthening and developing a bilingual public sector workforce in North Wales, and our civic mission, in terms of providing systems leadership, demonstrates the positive impact our institution has on the communities we serve.
"Thank you to the First Minister for her time and engagement with us today – it was a pleasure to welcome her, and showcase just some of our fantastic work."
The First Minister toured the EEOC, which will serve as a centre for industry collaboration, research, and innovation, with the aim of supporting growth in renewables and manufacturing.
Her visit came days before International Women in Engineering Day on June 23.
During the tour, Ms Morgan spoke with Selina Thomas, a final-year aeronautical and mechanical engineering student, who shared her work with KnitMesh Technologies.
She has been investigating the impact strength of composite materials for the North Wales-based company.
The First Minister also visited the university's Health Simulation Centre, which provides immersive training environments for healthcare students and professionals.
Staff highlighted the university's role in strengthening the public sector workforce in North Wales, with a focus on Welsh language provision.
Since launching its Welsh Language Academic Strategy and Action Plan, 'Cyfle,' nearly three years ago, the university has introduced Welsh language modules across several degree programmes.
These include speech and language therapy, professional policing, and education.
Ms Morgan was also updated on the next phase of development within the university's Health and Education Innovation Quarter (HEIQ).
This phase will introduce new teaching facilities, including virtual and augmented reality environments.
It will also feature a new teaching and learning lab and a hydra simulation suite, developed in partnership with the Hydra Foundation.
The suite will be designed to help students build decision-making skills by simulating emergency scenarios.
Ms Morgan said: "I was pleased to see first-hand the facilities at Wrexham University, especially the EEOC, which will soon become a vital hub for industry collaboration and skills development across North Wales.
"Through their civic work, our higher education institutions can serve as powerful anchors in their communities, supporting business and unlocking collective action to tackle inequality while preparing students for the jobs of tomorrow."
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Wales Online
6 hours ago
- Wales Online
'We were right on 20mph, Brexit was wrong and Nigel Farage would be a disaster for Wales'
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She was, after all, one of the resignations on that July day last year that signalled to Vaughan Gething he could not resist any longer, and within hours he had quit as First Minister of Wales. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here . Her official Senedd biog reads: "Julie is a committed green campaigner, environmentalist and a keen swimmer and skier. Julie is a member of Unison and is also a member of Gray's Inn" - a varied mix indeed. She has lived around the world, but moved back to Swansea to raise her three children. Professionally she has worked as a lawyer, been assistant chief executive of Swansea council. Now, the clock on her time in frontline politics is ticking, as she is one of the 13 Labour Senedd members who will not seek re-election in May's election. Article continues below Entering politics was a long held ambition, and she finally did it at 53. Brought up in a political household, her father was a Labour Party councillor and trade unionist and, in her words, both her parents were "both crazy climate change activists". It's probably no surprise she is also a lifelong vegetarian, something she describes as being "very bloody weird" when she was growing up. "I've always very firmly been of the view, right from when I was 16, if you want to change something, you have to stay in it. 'Perseverance is everything' "It's a conversation we have all the time, if you've resigned from the Labour Party in principle, then you can't vote for the candidate or make sure the people who believe what you believe are the ones who represent you. So, well done with your principle, but now you don't have a voice. "I've always thought having a voice is important and I've also thought, perseverance is everything. I'm nothing if not persistent. "Some things take a long time. 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She had four operations during her treatment, but once she was better, told Carwyn Jones she was ready to join his cabinet. She is now serving her fourth First Minister, with roles like skills and science, local government all on her CV, but the role created for her by Mark Drakeford, whose leadership election campaign she chaired, is her passion despite some very vocal opponents. In his tenure Mr Drakeford axed the M4 relief roads, placed a ban on new roads, set new targets for recycling and net zero, and who can forget it her department, and her deputy Lee Waters who brought in Wales' 20mph law, for example. Public opinion didn't deter her. "I suppose I always felt we were doing the right thing. You get a lot of crap from people who want you to do something that isn't the right thing. "I put a lot of stock by having done the right thing. So yes, we did things that were unpopular. The 20mph is a classic because it has saved tens of lives. 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"If you don't share it out, then obviously the people who aren't getting a share are angry, rightly angry, and that's what's happening across the Western developed world and with Reform. 'Taken down a path' "We have a society that, on the one hand, is getting technologically more competent, wealthier, with nicer lives, longer lives and so on and a huge section of that society is sick and poor and struggling and they're bloody hungry. "They're being taken down a path by demagogues who are doing it for their own purposes, and they're going to make their lives worse. "Brexit is a perfect example of that. Nobody can point me to anything that Brexit has done isn't a disaster and of course, if you put that to some of the people who backed it, they say, 'well, it wasn't done properly'. What an absolute nonsense. Isn't that the same as Reform, what they're promising might, on a very surface level, make some sense." 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Most people in Wales do not understand how bad the local authority situation in England actually is."
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