The Technical Platform for Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (T-PIKE) provides a training, secondment and placement programme for technicians, giving them the knowledge and experience to engage fully with industry. It also provides entry-level opportunities to bring new apprentices into the sector and help ensure the profession is sustainable.
Led by the University of Essex, T-PIKE works across the Eastern Arc network — alongside the University of East Anglia, the University of Kent and the University of Sussex — giving more than 1,000 technical staff access to sector-leading opportunities. The programme is technician-led, focusing on two themes: “AI, Digitisation and Data” and “Engineering Net Zero”.
The project is one of 11 UKRI Strategic Technical Platforms funded by EPSRC and the UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure programme to support and develop the RTP community.