17 July 2024 Superior Seals Degree Apprenticeship Trip

On Tuesday 9th July, 4 intrepid Sixth Form students to Superior Seals in Ferndown for a day.  Superior Seals is a family run business, established for some 50 years in Dorset producing O-rings and gaskets in both generic and novel polymer compounds.  The reason for their visit was they also run a degree apprenticeship programme whereby students are employed but attend university on a day release basis so they can eventually achieve a Bachelor’s degree in a number of disciplines.  A level Chemistry teacher, Mr Browning, is their on site lecturer for the material science aspects of the course, and it was through him we have made this link.

Students began with introductions from Liam Stratten, Superior’s training manager, as well as a number of other staff who have completed the degree apprenticeship at Superior.  They then had a lecture with Mr Browning, exploring the structures of some of the most common polymers Superior use in their day to day manufacturing.  They then undertook a robotics challenge with Liam, programming a robotic arm to move an O-ring from one place to another.  This was a glimpse into how the company actually uses robots to complete the more menial aspects of the jobs such as removing O-rings from the tools and cleaning them afterwards for the next cycle of production.  Next was a factory tour, seeing how novel polymers are made in small quantities for testing, through to the main production site, curing and final finishing.  This was followed by a Q&A session with employees from parts of the business as diverse as robotics, design, material science, production and logistics.  Students then made the short walk to another of Superior’s  impressive buildings, the materials testing lab.  Here, novel polymers are put through a series of tests to ensure their durability.  As the Superior mantra goes, “the device should fail before the seal”.  Mr Browning gave the students a look at the impressive cooling power of liquid nitrogen and how if you’ve misplaced your hammer, a frozen banana is more than adequate!  This was followed by an excellent lunch and then a sneak peek at the most modern facility Superior has.  Presently it is only one-third full, however, plans are for there to be a fully roboticised production facility which only produces items in their most popular polymer.  This was permitted thanks to our inside man, the aforementioned Mr Browning!

I have to say the students and I had an excellent time.  The Superior site(s) are something to behold and represent the very best in modern, British manufacturing.  Magna Academy already has two former students at Superior on the degree apprenticeship scheme and given the engagement by students on the visit, there could be more to come in future years.

Mr Barrett: Deputy Academic Director of Science & STEM coordinator