An Coiste Feabhais Acadúil
The Committee on Academic Quality Improvement
The Academic Quality Assurance Programme – 2003-2004
REVIEW OF
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
FINAL REPORT
(20 APRIL 2004)
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This report arises from a visit by a review team to the Department of Electronic
Engineering on 4-6th February, 2004. The Department had already prepared and
submitted a 'Self Assessment Report' that, with other documentation, was made
available to the review team well in advance of the visit. The current review is a followup review, as the Department was previously reviewed in 1998.
The review team consisted of: Professor Peter Cheung, Department of Electrical
and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College, London (Chairman); Professor Frank
Boland, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Trinity College, Dublin;
Mr Tom O'Dwyer, Engineering Manager, Analog Devices, Limerick; Dr Piaras Ó
hEachteirn, Department of Civil Engineering, NUI, Galway and Ms Marie McGonagle,
Law Faculty, NUI, Galway, acting as Rapporteur. Mr Ian McKenna, Assistant Principal
Officer, Department of Education and Science, Dublin was in attendance as an observer.
The report is structured to cover the following main topics:
Introduction
1. Aims and Objectives
2. Organization and Management
3. Programmes and Instruction
4. Scholarship and Research
5. The Wider Context
6. Recommendations
7. Summary and Concluding Remarks
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INTRODUCTION
The Department of Electronic Engineering, which is situated at Nuns Island, has 13 fulltime staff members, including three senior technicians and a secretarial/clerical
assistant. The Department offers a B.E. degree in Electronic Engineering, introduced in
1979 and a B.E. degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering, introduced in 1997. At
post-graduate level the Department offers a Master of Engineering Science by research,
a Master of Applied Science and a Ph.D. programme.
1.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The primary aims and objectives of the Department, as set out in the self-assessment
document, include the provision of up-to-date undergraduate degree programmes, a
good standard of service to undergraduate and postgraduate students and engagement in
research of national and international importance. The Review team believes that the
stated aims and objectives are appropriate and in line with the University's strategic
plan. The Review team commends the Department on its commitment and effort to
meet its objectives, as considered below. The team was pleased to see the Department's
operational and development plans, research handbook and other policy documents. All
of the documentation submitted by the Department to the Review team was well put
together, clear and coherent.
2.
ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT
The Department is well managed and organised. The assignment of specific
administrative duties leads to a smoothly running and efficient department. The high
esprit de corps among all members of staff - academic, technical and administrative,
referred to in the 1998 review report, is still clearly evident.
2.1
Delegation of administrative duties
There is a general perception by the more junior members of staff that they are asked to
take on a significantly higher administrative workload than others. While they have
carried out such administrative duties so far with efficiency and dedication, they felt that
their efforts in this aspect of their job often went unnoticed or unrewarded. The
departmental administrative duties are presented in Appendix F of the Self-assessment
Report in the format of a table. The Review team feels that the use of ticks in this table
might be replaced by some more quantitative measure (such as estimated hours per
annum). This might lead to a better distributed and more transparent administrative
workload, especially vis-à-vis the more junior members of staff.
2.2 Staff profile
The departmental academic staff profile is highly skewed towards younger staff at the
lower grades because of historical university recruitment policies. This situation is less
than optimal for any department and steps should be taken to correct it. Perhaps the
university could help promotion to the higher grades through some extra university
development resources specifically directed to addressing this problem.
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2.3 Sabbatical leave
The policy and practice regarding sabbatical leave is especially important for this
department. Many staff members are young and are graduates only of this department.
Consequently they would benefit greatly from exposure to the practices, procedures,
culture, etc. of another university, as well as gaining valuable research opportunities and
contacts. The Department should encourage and facilitate staff members to avail of
sabbatical leave. Perhaps the university could provide some special enabling grants or
support specifically to deal with this issue. Perhaps reciprocal sabbaticals with another
university might be possible. Such arrangements could in addition be used to improve
the experience base of the Department, albeit temporarily.
2.4 Training
Junior and new staff in particular would benefit from additional training, particularly
with regard to roles and responsibilities, as well as teaching techniques. Mandatory
induction courses for new staff should be introduced and inexperienced staff members
should be encouraged to participate in the CELT initiative.
2.5 Student Numbers
The falling number of second level students choosing Electronic Engineering is a
concern for the Department, and the Review Group commends the actions it has taken
to address this, as outlined in Appendix A (3.1) of the Self-Assessment Report. This fall
in numbers will have a detrimental effect on the ability of this young department to
expand its size and staff.
This fall in numbers is also a serious concern to industry and to government. In addition
to the actions already underway, such as the University Open Day, Steps, Midas, the
recruitment of non-EU nationals and IT alumni, the group recommends strong
marketing of the course to the common engineering entry course. In particular, students
(and prospective students) should be made aware of the Third Report of the Expert
Group on Future Skills Needs, a Forfás publication summarising the judged future
demand for different skills in the economy. This shows a significant shortfall expected
in the Information Technology field in general and particularly in specialised areas such
as IC Design.
If students were made fully aware of the medium-term employment prospects as
opposed to the situation at present, they would be more likely to consider it as a career.
The group also noted the strong gender imbalance, which still exists in the classes. The
typical female population is 10-20%. In some other EU countries, such as Spain, the
split is typically 30-40%. This may offer an opportunity to expand student numbers by
increased focus on the potential of female intake. The Department could consider
expanding its promotional activities to include all-female schools.
Likewise, non-EU students would provide much needed diversity and finance, which
could help the Department in the solution of a variety of problems. Recent visits to
Malaysia by Faculty members could be extended elsewhere (for example, China).
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2.6 Succession
In view of the anticipated retirement of the current Head of Department in a few years
time, and the preponderance of young academic staff at the lower grades, it is essential
that forward planning be undertaken and a specific succession plan formulated soon.
2.7 Strategic departmental meetings
An annual off-campus meeting involving all the academic staff of the Department
should be held to give focused direction to the Department. Such meetings avoid dayto-day departmental administrative distractions and allow staff to plan strategic
initiatives. Also the progress of the previous year can be reviewed, especially in the
research area (see further below). Younger staff members in particular would benefit
through greater preparatory planning and acquiring a sense of ownership of
departmental strategy.
2.8 Safety
While the Department has a safety statement and awareness, the Department should try
to achieve best practice with the active participation of the university Buildings Office.
Despite repeated requests by the Department, a safety audit of buildings, etc., by a
qualified person has not been carried out. It is strongly recommended that this safety
audit take place, even if escalation to higher authority is required to ensure it takes
place.
2.9 Co-operation and interaction with the Information Technology Department
The current six-weekly and staff-student liaison committee meetings are good but
possible conflicts of interest and poor communications issues need to be addressed.
2.10 Technicians
The Department's dedicated technicians are one of its obvious strengths. Feedback from
students and researchers was very positive. Individual technicians' contributions need to
be evaluated and, if found to be significantly above and beyond standard performance,
should be recognised and rewarded by promotion to a higher grade. An extra higher
grade may need to be created by the university to facilitate this, but it is important to
reward excellence, especially where such excellence significantly reduces the workload
of more senior academics.
3. PROGRAMMES AND INSTRUCTION
The Department is to be complimented on the success of the implementation of the new
programme in Electronic & Computer Engineering. Its timely introduction has eased the
impact of the nationwide reduction in the numbers of applicants to Electronic
Engineering and Information Technology courses. Both the Electronic Engineering (EE)
and Electronic & Computer Engineering (ECE) have experienced this reduction in
demand but the Review team was pleased to note that the median quality of the students
entering the programmes remains at a good level. The Review team established through
interviews conducted with a cross section of students and was pleased to learn of the
total satisfaction among these students of the teaching and support offered by the
Department. It was particularly impressive to find that on three separate occasions mild
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criticisms or suggestions by students from senior years have already been rectified. It
demonstrates the Department’s responsiveness to students’ concerns and its willingness
to improve.
3.1 Contact hours
Both the EE and the ECE courses have contact hours that are on the upper end of
subject norms. Although the Department has a strong teaching record and there were no
complaints about excessive teaching workload, the Department could explore a
managed reduction in contact hours with a view to increasing the opportunity for staff
(i) to participate in research and postgraduate education and (ii) to engage in the
supervision of undergraduate project work. The latter role could be associated with the
introduction of a 'research internship' scheme as an alternative to a work placement
(Professional Engineering Programme - PEP), although the group recommends that the
PEP remain the first choice and that the Department continue to strive hard to place
students in industry.
3.2 Tutorials
The Department has been responsive to the recommendations of the previous Review in
its introduction of a tutorial component to its taught courses. These take the form of
'problem solving' classes involving the entire class. If the Department is successful in
increasing the number of their post-graduate students in the future, the extra teaching
support available may be deployed to improve the tutorial sessions by reducing the class
size.
3.3 Quality Assurance questionnaires
Currently the solicitation of Quality Assurance questionnaires from students is optional
and depends on the initiatives of individual lecturers. To ensure continued improvement
of the Department’s already excellent teaching, the Review team recommends that the
Department should make Quality Assurance questionnaire responses from students on
each course formal and compulsory.
3.4 Projects
The Department has been progressive in introducing more project-based teaching into
their programmes. This reflects the fine responsiveness of the Department to both the
concerns of students and broader academic and professional developments. The project
work of Final Year students is recognised by the Department to be a vital part of the
degree programmes. Students were very appreciative of the excellent accessibility and
advice of academic and technical staff of the Department to support their project and
laboratory work. However, there were concerns among students that they were not able
to choose the subject of interest for their projects. In the absence of subject electives, the
Review team feels strongly that it is particularly important for students to influence the
choice of their individual project. The Department should provide the opportunity for
students to express their preference in working in a specific subject area. This would
also provide the students with an opportunity to give some individual direction to their
studies.
3.5
External Examiner’s Reports
The Review team was surprised that only two examiners' reports were available. It was
then established that the problem may lie with central administration and not with the
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Department. In order to protect the Department from possible problems with future
accreditation visits, it is strongly recommended that the University review its procedure
on handling external examiners' reports. For example, more effort could be directed
towards chasing missing external examiners' reports and the Department should not
only be informed of such reports, but required to provide responses to suggestions and
criticisms.
4. SCHOLARSHIP AND RESEARCH
The research output of the Department is commendable given its size and resources.
The Department has a good international reputation in some areas, most notably
Magnetics. The research funding attracted by the Department has been consistently
good and was increased significantly in 2003. However the distribution of funding
among staff members is uneven.
4.1 Research focus
The Department has made an initial effort to align its research effort towards the Faculty
and University strategic plan in targeting its research in specific areas. However, the
Department’s aspiration and its Research Plan could be significantly more ambitious
given its potentials and talents. It is recommended that the Department have a one-day
retreat to develop a more ambitious research plan focussing in one or two strategic
areas, particularly in Biomedical Engineering. Through this, it is hoped that the entire
staff would share a common vision and work more as a team than a collection of
individuals. A further suggestion is to target a researcher with an international research
profile sufficient to attract SFI funding under the Fellow or Investigator Award
programmes. This will have the advantage of adding a fresh perspective to the
Department as well as enhancing its reputation and ability to attract further funding.
The Department is in a particularly advantageous position with regard to recruitment of
middle-level research managers, due to the recent closure of a number of research- and
development-intensive electronics companies in the local area. The staff of these
companies would have included first-class honours graduates with experience in
supervision of researchers, who would have little difficulty in making the transition to
academic research. We recommend that the Department target these people to build its
research infrastructure, particularly if SFI funding is forthcoming.
4.2 Research space
The plans of the Department to expand research are currently hampered by the lack of
space. This problem has reached crisis point. While it may be rectified in the medium
term by the proposed new Engineering Building, an immediate solution must be found.
Specifically, if the objective of increasing research postgraduates is to be realised, the
Review team recommend that increased space should be made available to this
Department. The Review team also has concerns over the health and safety aspects of
some of the laboratories they inspected, particularly those which contained soldering
stations. Since decisions on the allocation of buildings and office space are vested in the
office of the President at NUI, Galway, we recommend that the urgency of the matter be
brought to his attention.
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4.3 Development of junior staff in research
In general, the junior staff are enthusiastic towards research and are making a strong
effort to improve their profile and output. However there is evidence that they need
stronger support from senior staff to advise and assist with their research development.
It is recognised that due to the small number of professorial staff, providing such
support may not be easy. The successful procurement of a SFI funded Investigator
mentioned in section 4.1 would be beneficial.
4.4 Supervision and structure of postgraduate students
There is strong rapport between postgraduate students and staff. Most students thought
that their access to staff members was good. However, it was suggested that a more
formal structure in the postgraduate programme be implemented. Specifically, clear
research objectives, schedule, milestones and deadlines should be established. These
should be reviewed formally by academic staff on a regular basis. This would improve
the completion time of postgraduate students, which is currently much longer than the
normal period.
4.5 Research publications
The recent improvement in the Department’s conference publications is noted.
However, this is not matched by a corresponding increase in refereed journal articles.
The Department should establish clear targets in this area. It should encourage staff to
extend their conference publications into journal articles if appropriate.
5.
THE WIDER CONTEXT
5.1 Budgets
Budgets should be devolved to departments in a significant way - sizeable meaningful
budgets, not tiny insignificant budgets. Carry-over from year to year should be allowed
to enable a more consistent spending pattern.
5.2 Promoting awareness
The Review team noted above the involvement of the members of the Department in
initiatives such as STEPS and MIDAS. It is vital that this pattern continue, not only to
raise the profile and status of the Department of Electronic Engineering in the wider
community, but also to promote employment opportunities amongst potential students,
particularly at this time of reduced industrial activity in immediate environs of NUI,
Galway.
5.3 Relationship with GMIT
The Review team also noted the very positive disposition of the academic staff towards
diploma graduates from neighbouring Galway Mayo Institute of Technology. These
students bring very substantial laboratory and practical experience to the learning
environment in the Department. This relationship should continue to be promoted.
5.4 Status in the wider community
In conclusion, it is clear that this Department has a strong reputation within the broader
education system, and the disposition of its students help underpin the status of NUI,
Galway in the wider community.
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6. RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Recommendations to the Department
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The equality and transparency in the distribution of administrative load should be
improved. This may be achieved by adopting a more quantitative measure (such as
estimated hours per annum) in the load allocation.
The Department should encourage and facilitate staff members to avail of sabbatical
leave.
There should be a stronger drive towards marketing the course to the common
engineering entry course and recruiting other categories of students (more female,
EU, etc.).
The Department could explore the introduction of a 'research internship' scheme as
an alternative to work placement.
The Department should have formal Quality Assurance questionnaire responses
from students on each course.
The Department should provide the opportunity for students to express an interest in
working in a specific subject area for their final year project.
The Department should organise a one-day retreat to develop a more ambitious
research plan focussing in one or two strategic areas, particularly in Biomedical
Engineering.
The Department should target a researcher with an international research profile
sufficient to attract SFI funding under the Fellow or Investigator award
programmes. The Department should target middle-level research managers, who
may be available due to the recent closure of a number of research- and
development-intensive electronics companies in the local area, to build its research
infrastructure, particularly if SFI funding is forthcoming.
A formal structure in the postgraduate programme should be implemented.
The Department should establish clear targets for research and encourage staff to
extend their conference publications into journal articles if appropriate.
6.2 Recommendations to the University
•
•
•
•
•
•
As the academic staff of the Department are predominantly at the lower grades, the
university could help promotion to the higher grades through the allocation of some
extra university development resources.
The University could provide some special enabling grants or support specifically to
enable younger staff to avail of sabbatical leave.
Mandatory induction courses for new staff should be introduced.
The University should formulate with the Department a specific succession plan
ahead of known retirement.
An externally conducted safety audit of the Department is strongly recommended.
Individual technicians' contributions need to be evaluated and, if found to be
significantly above and beyond standard performance, should be recognised and
rewarded by promotion to a higher grade.
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•
•
•
The plans of the Department to expand research are current hampered by the lack of
space. This problem has reached crisis point and an immediate solution must be
found.
Significant budgets should be devolved to departments.
The University should review its procedures for securing, handling and responding
to external examiners' reports.
7. Summary
Staff
The Department of Electronic Engineering is well managed and organised and there is a
strong esprit de corps among all members of staff. There is a high number of junior
staff in the Department, however, which calls for particular attention. They must be
facilitated through sabbatical leave, training and other assistance to develop their
teaching and research and to become well positioned for promotion to the higher grades.
There is a general perception among the more junior staff that they are asked to take on
a significantly higher administrative workload than others. It is essential that forward
planning be undertaken. The Department's dedicated technicians are one of its obvious
strengths. Feedback from students and researchers was very positive.
Teaching programmes
Both the Electronic Engineering (EE) and Electronic & Computer Engineering (ECE)
have experienced a reduction in demand but the Review team was pleased to note that
the median quality of the students entering the programmes remains at a good level and
that students expressed total satisfaction with the teaching and support offered by the
Department. The Department has been responsive to the recommendations of the
previous Review in its introduction of a tutorial component to its taught courses. It has
also been progressive in introducing more project-based teaching into its programmes
but it is important that students be able to influence the choice of their individual
project.
There is strong rapport between postgraduate students and staff but a more formal
structure in the postgraduate programme needs to be implemented.
Research
The Department has made an initial effort to align its research effort towards the Faculty
and University strategic plan but its aspiration and Research Plan could be significantly
more ambitious. It is recommended that the Department have a one-day retreat to
develop a more ambitious research plan and that it target a researcher with an
international research profile sufficient to attract SFI funding under the Fellow or
Investigator Award programmes, as well as middle-level research managers, who may
be available in the area due to the recent closure of a number of local research- and
development-intensive electronics companies. Staff should be encouraged to extend
their conference publications into journal articles if appropriate.
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Awareness
The falling number of second level students choosing Electronic Engineering is a
concern for the Department, and the Review Group commends the actions it has taken
to address this. In this regard, a stronger drive should be taken towards marketing the
course to the common engineering entry course and recruiting other categories of
students (more female, EU, etc.).
Space
Research space is urgently required especially if the objective of increasing research
postgraduates is to be realised.
Safety
It is strongly recommended that an external safety audit take place.
Professor Peter Cheung (Chair)
Professor Frank Boland
Mr Tom O'Dwyer
Mr Ian McKenna
Dr Piaras Ó hEachteirn
Ms Marie McGonagle (Rapporteur)
(20 April 2004).
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Comments on the Methodology of the Review Process
1. The Review team felt that, while two full days appeared long, it gave the
opportunity for a deeper understanding of the programmes, structures and operation
of the Department and consequently a thorough and coherent review. The
composition of the review team was an important factor as it was useful and
beneficial, for example, to have a member of the team from outside the jurisdiction.
2. The team enjoyed the full co-operation of the Department both by way of
documentation supplied and assistance given during the visit. The team felt, on
reflection, that some further documentation, such as the report of the accreditation
body and copies of student questionnaires, might have been helpful.
3. The team felt that it might have been helpful also to meet with the heads of related
departments that share in the delivery of programmes with the Department of
Electronic Engineering. Better planning and organisation of the visit to related
university facilities would have assisted the team.
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