University Engineering Education Research Articles

The Development of Creative Engineers

We shall consider some aspects of the development of creative engineers by means of undergraduate university programmes in the United Kingdom. Attention will be given to the nature and objectives of such programmes with particular emphasis on the selection of students for entry to them. For illustration, some reference will be made to the development of one undergraduate engineering programme. earlier. That speech dealt, amongst other things, with the need to develop educational activities in the light of the needs of the UK economy and UK industry. Much of the subsequent debate was focussed upon engineering industries and the engineering profession and therefore upon engineering education and training. Commentators, often drawing upon Anglo-German and similar comparisons, identified the many peculiar characteristics of the UK engineering education system (2). The emphasis upon a science-oriented approach with the relative subordination of technology, the diminution of the concept of art in engineering education, and the absence in the UK of any concept or approach corresponding to the Tecnik concept widespread in Germany, were common observations in this debate. This discussion originated and flourished at a time when undergraduate engineering courses in the UK universities and polytechnics were under-subscribed. In this situation the University Grants Committee (UGC) caused the establishment of so- called 'enhanced' undergraduate engineering courses in eight universities. This heralded a period of fairly widespread innovation in undergraduate engineering education in universities and polytechnics, such that by the time of the publication of the Finniston Report, over twelve universities and two polytechnics had established new undergraduate engineering programmes, each in their different ways aiming to attract high quality students for development as competent and capable engineers for UK manufacturing industry. The recommendations of the Finniston Report added momentum to this development. The report drew attention to the importance of this 'formation' of engineers as an integrated process involving study and training. This approach was consistent with the predominant views of the engineering professional bodies (e.g. the Institution of Mechanical Engineers was beginning to move towards an obligatory five year integrated study/training programme (3) ) and a similar line had been taken by the Engineering Industry Training Board. Thus, the substance of the Report's recommendations on engineering education and training provided few

University Education in Electronics in the United Kingdom

Although the overall aims of university engineering education in the U. S. A. and the U. K. are broadly similar, the means of achieving these aims in the two countries are rather different. This paper discusses teaching methods and philosophies in the Department of Electronics at the University of Southampton and compares them with attitudes in the U. S. A. First, high-school curricula in the U. K. are reviewed, as they determine the quality of students at university entry. Then, the probable future pattern of industry, and the aims of a university education are discu sed. The courses devised to train both systems and device engineers, including the all-important laboratory training, are outlined together with examination and assessment techniques. Postgraduate activities include a new type of postgraduate Master's degree course in semiconductor product technology and industrial techniques.

Production engineering education in american universities

Production engineering education in american universities

わが國の工業教育と新制大学

わが國の工業教育と新制大学

Discussion on “The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications” before the North-Eastern Centre, at Newcastle, 16th February, 1944

Discussion on “The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications” before the North-Eastern Centre, at Newcastle, 16th February, 1944

Discussion on “The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications” before the Scottish Centre, at Edinburgh, 15th March, 1944

Discussion on “The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications” before the Scottish Centre, at Edinburgh, 15th March, 1944

The author's reply to the discussions on “The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications”

The author's reply to the discussions on “The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications”

The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications

The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications

Discussion on “The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications” before the Wireless Section, 3rd February, 1943

Discussion on “The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications” before the Wireless Section, 3rd February, 1943

The university education and industrial training of engineers, with particular reference to telecommunications

The paper calls for a reconsideration of the aims of university courses for prospective engineers, with particular reference to prospective telecommunication engineers. It is argued that the situation created by the extremely rapid growth of scientific knowledge necessitates a more effective co-ordination of the engineering and physics teaching at the undergraduate stage and the introduction of full-time postgraduate courses. It is suggested that entry to an undergraduate engineering course should be preceded in all cases by a year of general practical training in industry and to a postgraduate course in Telecommunications by a year of experience in the practice of that branch of engineering work. Reference is also made to the need for greater attention to the development of student personality and of a sense of responsibility in social matters, and to the desirability of making greater provision for the transfer of outstanding National Certificate students to full-time university courses.