Engineering students must be provided with the analytical and practical skills that will be key for the rapidly evolving demands of the coming decades, the University of New South Wales’ (UNSW) Dean of Engineering Professor Julien Epps told create following a roundtable discussion with industry leaders hosted by the university and Engineers Australia.
“While the basic tenets of an engineering education will remain, UNSW is broadening the range of skills it teaches its students to prepare them for a lifetime of learning,” Epps said.
“A strong technical foundation will always be imperative, but with industries evolving so rapidly, it’s also important that they are creative, proficient in collaboration, understand their business context and are strong communicators.”
The roundtable event was part of Engineers Australia’s Thought Leaders series and brought 16 senior leaders from industries including construction, transport, utilities, technical services and manufacturing together with UNSW academics to discuss the future of engineering education.
“Our vision is to deliver lifelong learning journeys to students so they can improve the world,” UNSW’s Deputy Dean (Education) Professor Maurice Pagnucco told the gathering. “But as we look ahead, we understand that the skills required are changing, so we want to hear your insights and expertise to further strengthen our programs.”
UNSW is Australia’s top-ranked university for engineering and is responsible for graduating 15 per cent of the entire profession. It’s rated in the top 50 engineering schools globally and aims to break into the top 25 within a decade.
A central role for engineers
Epps, who took over as Dean in December 2023 after 16 years at the university, believes that engineers will play an increasingly important role in the business side of major engineering projects across infrastructure, utilities, transport and construction planning.
“That’s why it’s absolutely essential that they can communicate strategies and solutions to non-technical clients and people in different parts of their organisation,” he said. “They have to be both effective scientists and entrepreneurial managers to inspire stakeholders to adopt their ideas. If they can’t articulate the benefits of a proposal then those benefits may never be realised.”
The roundtable session was moderated by Professor Megan Lord, Academic Director, Australian Graduate School of Engineering Industry PhD Program at UNSW, who launched a three-year PhD program in 2022 that includes 60 days of industry experience.
“It’s the largest such program in the country,” she said. “So far, we’ve had 48 students and 41 industry partners, and it’s expanding rapidly. It has vibrant networking and mentoring aspects and we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved, but we want to grow it into a mainstream offering.”
When she asked what universities could do to make their cohorts stand out even more, several attendees echoed Epps’ comments about strong communication and people management.
“Developing soft skills is more important than ever,” one industry executive said. “To change ideas into reality, you have to interact with many different stakeholders and company departments such as legal and human resources. As engineers, we’re natural problem solvers so it can be frustrating when we encounter a roadblock and don’t have the negotiation skills to deal with it.”
Ford agreed, revealing that the issue had become a strategic focus during the pandemic when students couldn’t attend lectures and were forced to work in isolation.
“Since then, we’ve put an emphasis on teamwork in preference to individuals working alone, as we know how vital soft skills are. We’ve also opened up a number of ‘makerspaces’, where students can create, build and study together, and provided collaborative volunteering opportunities so that they can give back to the community.”
For Pagnucco, part of the solution involves maximising industry experience through site visits, long-term placements and exposure to the latest technology. It’s also about helping students play to their strengths.
“We want our graduates to dream, dare and do to serve all communities,” he said. “Our mission is to align educational activities to create lasting worldwide influence with our students, graduates, industry, government and communities.”
Innovation and ambition
To that end, UNSW offers Vertically Integrated Projects (VIPs), an approach that engages undergraduates in ambitious, cutting-edge and multidisciplinary ventures led by UNSW researchers. Worldwide, 45 universities across 12 countries are part of the VIP Consortium.
One UNSW VIP team is currently working with a technology developer from NASA, pitching designs for a robot to excavate ice on the moon.
“It’s worth thinking about whether there is a product that would be useful to your businesses that could be designed and built by our students,” Lord said. “We want to find more ways to train our students to devise tangible industry solutions.”
Epps also wants undergraduates to undertake more experiential learning opportunities in a broader range of elective subjects.
“They’ll increasingly need to think outside the technical box to understand the contextual relevance of their work,” he said. “And that will likely involve continual upskilling throughout their working lives together with career pivots as the engineering landscape changes.”
Find out more about industry partnerships and engineering opportunities at UNSW.