Engineering Plus
I was shocked to hear from women undergraduate students that they received misogynistic comments from their male peers. I thought that the current generation of males were well past such prejudice. I was obviously wrong. No wonder that core programs such as Electrical, Civil or mechanical engineering still only average around 15% of females.
The Australian Council of Engineering Deans (ACED) has created a wonderful vision of “The future of engineering education in Australia” via the Engineering 2035 project.
The report states “Insufficient women are attracted to engineering, which represents an ongoing massive loss of potential talent for the profession and the nation. The low proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students must also be addressed". Solutions include “Industry wants to see a re-balancing of the theory-practice components of professional engineering education, with a greater emphasis on practice, including the human dimensions of engineering”.
The Multiversity is contemplating creating an Engineering Plus program that would meet the requirements set out by ACED. The engineering schools within the NUW Alliance can combine to create an advanced manufacturing program that combines the best of their already stellar programs and as a by-product attract a new diverse cohort of students.
It is estimated that Sydney’s Western Parklands City with the Aerotropolis at its heart will create 200,000 jobs. Here is a chance to upskill workers in Western Sydney to take advantage of new opportunities as well as to encourage school leavers to aspire to take jobs that are highly skilled. Australia has outsourced many manufacturing tasks to markets that have cheaper labour costs.
Advanced manufacturing techniques are shifting manufacturing from a high percentage of labour to innovative technologies that lower labour costs. We have an opportunity to capitalise on this trend by moving manufacturing onshore and become strongly competitive in terms of both cost and quality. We may not have the capacity yet to manufacture nuclear submarines, but we certainly can create light rail carriages for Australian conditions.
Australia has the technical skills embedded in our graduates to accomplish all we require. What we need to develop is individuals who have the networking, entrepreneurial and managerial skills along with technical knowhow to persuade those who finance large projects that Australian manufacturing is value for money.
The issue is not technology but the interaction of technology with people.
Why do we have processes for instance where in some cities plastic bottles are encouraged to have lids attached for recycling while other cities ban them on plastic bottles for recycling.
Australia can create a cost effective, circular economy with advanced manufacturing processes if we graduate students from all backgrounds who have the right mix of technology and people skills.
This article was authored by Associate Professor Rodney Vickers, Education Lead for the NUW Alliance, Honorary Principal Fellow UOW, 7 years as Associate Dean Education for Engineering at University of Wollongong and 7 years as member of University of Wollongong Council.
To read other thought leadership articles such as this please see the NUW Alliance Biannual Report.
Contact
- Tamara Tancred
- Phone: (02) 4921 5504
- Email: tamara.tancred@nuwalliance.edu.au
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