East Kilbride's University Relations Council (URC) undertakes a critical dual role in promoting Freescale to leading Universities throughout Scotland and building strong partnerships with these organisations and the communities that they serve.
There are a number of reasons why this work is so key. The university environment is a fiercely competitive battleground. If we can make it easy for students to work on Freescale architectures and products as part of their course work it creates a positive impression of our company to potential future employees. It can also help create sales for our products into the future as a result of this experience.
The work we do varies enormously. It ranges from the funding of text books through to the provision of development systems. The picture shows Rod Watt of NCSG making a donation of technical text books to Heriot-Watt University's head librarian Mr Michael Breaks. It also includes hosting fun evenings where students are asked to solve problems/invent solutions and, of course, the obligatory cheese and wine.
The work of the URC is well recognised and supported by the East Kilbride site staff. This year's Council is lead by Mark Hagan, Director of Quality. Mark's goals are to enhance the existing activity, link the work even closer to the business strategies and seek other opportunities for university research and development linkages so that we develop a truly excellent university strategy for Scotland and for Freescale.
Scottish Graduate Recruitment Fair Photos
The Freescale Semiconductor stall at the recent Graduate Fair at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) was well attended by students from all over the country. Several volunteers from Freescale spent time talking to students about the opportunities and benefits within Freescale. The two day fair also gave the opportunity to raise the awareness of Freescale with the students. It was encouraging to find out that many students were already aware of Freescale due to our University Relations Council links. A 'Brake-by-wire' demonstration was on show, which gave the students a hands-on opportunity to see and touch one of our inventions, and get a better appreciation of what Freescale products can do. The competition to win an mp3 player every hour was well received, and hopefully all the winners are currently listening to music, thanks to Freescale!
