Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University
School of Engineering and Applied Science
– case study –
February 2010
Authors
Dr. Richard Dales, Fiona Lamb and Dr. Emma Hurdle
Acknowledgements
The following people generously provided information for this case study:
Carol Arlett; Prof. Robert Berry; Dr. Malcolm Booth; Dr. Jerzy Drahun; Chris Evans;
PVC Dr. Phil Extance; Dr. Nagi Fahmi; Dave Hall; PVC Prof. Helen Higson; Jo LeFevre;
Dr. Trevor Oliver; Jules Richey; Phil Scott; David Smith; Prof. Geoff Tansley; Dr. David Upton;
Sudha Vaidya; Liz Willis; Sylvia Wong and Prof. Mike Wood.
Excellent administrative support was kindly provided by Julia Candlin.
Published by: The Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre, Loughborough University,
Leicestershire, LE11 3TU, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1509 227170.
Design and layout by Glenda McMahon, The Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre.
Photographs courtesy of Aston University.
All of the case studies, plus the main report and other relevant information is available from:
www.engsc.ac.uk/graduates-for-industry. For further information, please email enquiries@engsc.ac.uk
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Higher Education
Academy Engineering Subject Centre or Loughborough University.
Copyright © 2010 Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-907632-01-3
www.engsc.ac.uk/graduates-for-industry
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University
School of Engineering and Applied Science
– case study –
Introduction
The engineering graduates for industry report
This case study has been developed as part of the Engineering graduates for industry study commissioned
by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) following a recommendation made by Lord
Sainsbury in his 2007 report The Race to the Top*. The principal objective of the study was to identify
effective practices within current and developing experience-led engineering degrees that meet the
needs of industry, as given in the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Educating Engineers for the 21st Century
report**.
A case study approach was used to provide an in-depth examination of experience-led engineering
activity and to examine the opportunities, barriers and costs (as far as possible) involved with curriculum
change. The analysis of the case studies led to the development of recommendations for the main report
as shown in the table below. The research was undertaken by the Engineering Subject Centre through
the Royal Academy of Engineering and directed by an Oversight Group, initially chaired by Lord Browne
and then by Professor Sir William Wakeham, comprising senior engineering academics, industrialists,
professional affiliates and government representatives.
Recommendations
The three recommendations of the main report:
• Experience counts and relevance motivates. Experience-led components must be embedded into every
engineering degree, using the effective practice outlined in these case studies as inspiration. Experienceled engineering degrees benefit students and industry alike, supporting economic recovery and future
prosperity.
• Preferential ring-fenced investment in experience-led HE engineering is required to deliver the higher
skills needed. Innovative mechanisms are needed to focus and prioritise the investment required, in the
context of a difficult fiscal period and an existing shortfall in the funding of engineering degree programmes
necessary for financial sustainability.
• Significant time and energy should be directed towards building, enhancing and sustaining university/
industry partnerships. Effective partnerships are a key feature of the most successful exemplars.
Six universities provided in-depth case studies and a total of 15 exemplars for the study as shown
in the summary overleaf. Universities were selected to cover a broad range of university types,
geographical locations (within England), engineering disciplines, range of industrial activity / involvement
/ skills provided. All cases were focused on undergraduate studies only. A further mini case study from
University College London was commissioned following a symposium held as part of the study.
*
**
Sainsbury (2007) The Race to the Top, HM Treasury
The Royal Academy of Engineering, Educating Engineers for the 21st Century, 2007
Engineering graduates for industry
Summary of case study institutions
University
Faculty/
School
Engineering disciplines
covered in this study
Exemplars
Aston
University
School of
Engineering
and Applied
Science
Chemical, Computer
Science, Electronic,
Engineering Systems and
Management, Mechanical
1. Industrial placements
2. Foundation degrees in power
engineering
Coventry
University
Faculty of
Engineering
and
Computing
Aerospace, Automotive,
Built Environment, Civil,
Computing, Electronic,
Knowledge Management,
Mechanical
3. Activity led learning
Imperial
College
London
Faculty of
Engineering
Aeronautics, Bioengineering,
Chemical, Civil, Computing,
Electrical, Electronic,
Environmental, Materials,
Mechanical
4. Industrial simulation
(Constructionarium and chemical
pilot plant)
5. Discipline-based support
(enVision)
6. Large group projects
7. Student-led activities
University of
Liverpool
Faculty of
Engineering
Aerospace, Civil, Materials
Science, Mechanical
8. Active learning (adapted from
CDIO)
9. Visiting professors
London South
Bank University
Faculty of
Engineering,
Science and
The Built
Environment
Applied Sciences,
Engineering and Design,
The Built Environment,
Urban Engineering
10. Understanding stakeholder needs
11. ‘Live’ experimental laboratory
(CEREB)
Loughborough
University
Faculty of
Engineering
Aeronautical, Automotive,
Building, Chemical, Civil,
Electrical, Electronic,
Manufacturing, Mechanical
12.Industrial placements (Diploma in
Industrial Studies)
13.Industrial group projects (Teaching
Contract Scheme)
14.Sponsored degree programmes
15.Discipline-based support
(engCETL)
Engineering Graduates for Industry Report
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
Contents
Background ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Overview of industry-related components within the undergraduate engineering programmes.. 5
Understanding the needs of industry................................................................................................................................. 8
Effective practice exemplar 1: industrial placements............................................................................................... 10
What are industrial placements?.........................................................................................................................................................................................10
Why have industrial placements?........................................................................................................................................................................................10
How do industrial placements work?................................................................................................................................................................................11
Perceived benefits.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................14
Challenges.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................16
Future developments and ideas...........................................................................................................................................................................................16
Costs involved..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................17
At a glance – Industrial placements..................................................................................................................................................................................17
Effective practice exemplar 2: Foundation degrees in Power Engineering.................................................. 17
What are Foundation degrees in Power Engineering?.............................................................................................................................................17
Why have Foundation degrees in Power Engineering?............................................................................................................................................18
How do Foundation degrees in Power Engineering work?.....................................................................................................................................18
Perceived benefits.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................19
Challenges.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................20
Future developments and ideas...........................................................................................................................................................................................20
At a glance – Foundation degrees in Power Engineering......................................................................................................................................20
Engineering graduates for industry
1
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
2
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
Background
Aston was founded in 1895 as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School and has been a university
since 1966. It is a research-led institution with strong links to industry, recognised for its
“rigorous academic standards and graduates who are among the most sought-after in the UK […] Aston
earns a shortlist for our University of the Year title”
Sunday Times, September 08
The assertion of strong links to industry is supported by a score of 6.0 for ‘Good Industry Connections’
in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 20091, comfortably higher than the (assumed
to be) median score of 5.2. In the period 2004/7, Aston collaborated in over 50 Co-operative Awards in
Science and Engineering (CASE) projects and currently has ten Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs)
running.
The University is relatively small, with around 9,500 undergraduate, postgraduate taught and research
students, a factor which is appreciated:
“Because of its relatively small size, the student - teacher relationship is more than a casual “Good morning”.
Students are able to speak freely, creating a very comfortable atmosphere for learning, leaving both the
teachers and students satisfied”
2007 graduate, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Aston has categorised its strengths into three main areas: research, learning and teaching and community
engagement, and its mission is:
“to develop the three corners of our academic triangle: delivering an excellent learning experience for our
students, enhanced by interaction with internationally recognised, relevant research, and linked to innovative
support for local companies and engagement with schools and the community, involving students and staff in
raising aspirations and attainment”
Vision - Mission, Strategy 2012
Aston has succeeded in establishing strong links to the local community, as aspired to in the vision
statement, with 19% of undergraduate students in 2007/08 coming from the City of Birmingham region
and 20% from elsewhere in the West Midlands2.
A successful approach that Aston pioneered and has now adopted for over 50 years is providing
students with the opportunity of a placement year in industry.
“One of Aston’s strengths is its placement activity. Around 70% of our students take a placement in their third
year, and the benefits are shown in our graduate employment record”
Work-based learning opportunities, Strategy 2012
Aston also provides opportunities for work-based learning through Continuous Professional
Development (CPD) courses, Foundation degrees and outreach activities.
The National Student Survey shows that overall student satisfaction with Aston University’s
undergraduate degree programmes was 89% in 2007/08, an increase of 2% from 2006/07 and well
above the UK average of 82%, giving them the top ranking of universities in the West Midlands3. The
University as a whole also ranks well in a number of University League Tables4: 19th in the 2010 Guardian
University Guide, 25th in the 2010 Times Good University Guide and 13th in the 2010 Independent
Complete University Guide. The University has also been recognised recently for its achievements in
research with all four subject areas submitted to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise ranked in the
THE Magazine, No. 1879, 15th-21st January 2009 - http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=404989
1
2
Aston University at a Glance - http://www1.aston.ac.uk/about/facts-figures/ 3 http://www.unistats.com
http://www1.aston.ac.uk/about/rankings/
4
Engineering graduates for industry
3
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
UK top 12 and General Engineering ranking 12th for the quality of research5.
In 2008-09 the School of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS) at Aston was made up of five discipline
groupings (six discipline groupings from 1st July 2009):
•
•
•
•
Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
Computer Science
Electronic Engineering
Engineering Systems and Management (split 1st July 2009 to become two subject groups: Mechanical
Engineering and Design and Engineering Systems and Management)
• Mathematics.
At undergraduate level, the usual patterns of study are three year BEng or BSc and four year MEng
or MChem degrees, with the option to take an industrial placement. Nearly all of the programmes
are accredited by the appropriate professional institution, with a few BSc programmes instead being
approved or recognised.
The School has over 1600 full-time undergraduates who have entered with an average tariff score of
240-299 in 2008-09. Since then, as entry qualifications have been raised across the School, the average
tariff score has risen for undergraduate entrants onto first year honours degrees in 2009-10. Over
51% of students graduate with a 2:1 or higher. Table 1 shows the number of staff and students for each
discipline grouping.
Table 1. 2008/09 Statistics for the School of Engineering and Applied Science at
Aston University
Full-time UG
students (incl.
placement students)
% FTE parttime UG
students
% overseas
students
FTE academic
staff
(May 2009)
Chemical Engineering and
Applied Chemistry
313
3.2%
16%
11.3
Computer Science
455
8.6%
7%
16.2
Electronic Engineering
133 (+ 96 Foundation
Programme students)
0.08% (+ 7.3%
Foundation
Programme)
30% (14%
Foundation
Programme)
15.2
Engineering Systems and
Management
636 (+208 Foundation
Degree students)
5.2%
18% (2%
Foundation
Degree)
18.2
Mathematics
148
6.7%
4%
9
Total in School
1685
6.2%
17%
71.73
The School has a strong graduate employability record, as demonstrated by Figure 1, with 91% of the
Engineering and Technology (E&T) graduates in 2006/07 either in employment or further study within six
months of graduating, and with 31% in E&T related jobs. This record is perceived to be largely due to the
“professionally and vocationally relevant courses, placement years and outstanding careers service” offered by
the University. Attrition rates are low on EAS undergraduate programmes, the figure being just 4.0% for
full-time first degree entrants leaving in the first year in 2007/08 (the national average being over 7.0%)6.
http://www1.aston.ac.uk/about/news/releases/2008/december/rae/
5
http://education.guardian.co.uk/universityaccess/table/0,,2283706,00.html
6
4
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
The low attrition rate confirms Aston’s reputation for supporting students and for student success:
“small but perfectly formed is how Aston sees itself and how students and employers feel towards it. A low
dropout rate coupled with the highest graduate employment rate of any UK University speaks volumes” 7
Figure 1. First Destinations of UK-domiciled Aston University engineering graduates 2006/078
The School of Engineering and Applied Science has a number of international partnerships and has
links with most EU countries, for example Nancy-Université (France), with which the School has an
Erasmus agreement. Recently established international links include an undergraduate student exchange
programme with Korea University. Currently in development is a 2+1 Computer Science degree
programme with Vidyalanka Institute of Technology (Mumbai) and a five year partnership with Anna
University (Chennai). It is hoped that the Anna University collaboration will facilitate a partnership in
various areas, including student and faculty exchange and a number of industrially based projects.
Overview of industry-related components within the undergraduate
engineering programmes
One of the School’s key strengths is employability:
“Through investing in our staff, and curriculum development, we will produce ever-more
relevant and desirable programmes with an emphasis on employability, and involve industry in
design and assessment”
School of Engineering and Applied Science - Learning and Teaching, Strategy 2012
Local industries have assisted in the development of the curriculum with the aim of making programmes
relevant to the needs of industry and Aston is keen to develop this collaboration further. Offering
placements and the development of Foundation degrees are an important part of this strategy. This is
discussed further in the following exemplars.
The Times Good University Guide, 2008
7
Data from The Higher Education Statistics Agency 2006/07
8
Engineering graduates for industry
5
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
An example of multi-disciplinary activity is Aston’s involvement in Formula Student9, in which it has been
competing since 2001. The main entry from Aston is a Class 1 team (15 students in 2009), which involves
developing and entering a new car built that year. Involvement in Formula Student requires significant
commitment from both students and staff:
“Commitment, teamwork, practical skills and enthusiasm are just as essential, if not more so, than pure
academic ability”
Formula Student at Aston document, 2009
The majority of the Formula Student team at Aston are final year BEng or BSc undergraduates in the
Mechanical Engineering and Design group. These students carry out their individual final year research
project on a particular aspect of the Formula Student project. This could be a design and build aspect of
the current year’s entry or for a subsequent car design. Students are encouraged to work as a team but
the analysis and design requirements of the project are assessed individually.
In order to maintain continuity, two graduates who worked on the Formula Student entry in the
previous year are invited back to provide the managerial expertise for the current year’s entry. They
are enrolled onto an MSc programme in Mechanical Engineering and Product Design and receive a
scholarship to cover their fees and a bursary to cover some living costs. As well as managing the Formula
Student team and undertaking a Formula Student associated project (often developing components for
the next generation car), they promote the project to schools and colleges in the region and at various
media events.
Other members of the team are first and second year undergraduate students. They are encouraged to
join the team on a voluntary basis, as it is seen to enhance their experience-led learning. In 2008/09, a
satellite volunteer group of twelve first and second year undergraduate students also prepared a design
for a car to enter into the Formula Student Class 3 competition. Many of these were recruited from
the Motorsport Club of the Student Guild, also the route by which people from other sections of the
University can become involved. Recruits from other sections volunteer solely because of their own
enthusiasm for motorsport and do not generally obtain academic credit for their input.
The School also offers an open module called the Competition Preparation Module, a 10 credit
final year module which allows students to gain credit for the engagement with and preparation of
submissions to national and international student engineering competitions. The module encourages
students to widen their horizons beyond formal academic requirements. Students are responsible for
identifying suitable competitions and then progressing their entries through to submission:
“That has been down, essentially, to the students having to find the competition, find out what you need to do
and actually solve the brief ”
Chris Evans, Programme Director, Product Design
Students may only enter design or engineering focused competitions and many of these give students the
opportunity to build models and prototypes. Students write their own analysis of the competition entry
and all the supporting work and calculations that are not submitted to the competition can be included
in that analysis. This submission is then assessed for the module. As the various competitions have widely
differing closing dates and judging times there is no correlation between the module assessment and
how successful they are in the competition. This year, one student has been shortlisted for the Student
Lighting Design Awards and will go on to exhibit his work at the National Exhibition Centre in 2010. An
example of an international competition with a design and build focus in which the School participates
is the Shell ECO Marathon. Approximately 35 students from Aston currently enter a design competition
each year, but this number is increasing as other students see the benefits in recognition and achievement
at a national or international level.
9
http://www.formulastudent.com/
6
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
With regard to group work, Aston is trying to enhance the number of design and build projects with
industrial involvement. These group projects are undertaken at all levels, and Aston believes they improve
student motivation. In Electronic Engineering some of the group project work engages students from all
programmes and final stage students have the opportunity to engage in a multi-disciplinary roleplaying
module.
In terms of simulated industrial experience, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry students spend
time in a pilot plant and make an annual industrial visit. Electronic Engineering students are all members
of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and are encouraged to attend local events.
Looking forward, Aston is developing a CDIO™10 approach, with an associated space redesign and
refurbishment, for the 2011/12 academic year. This will be in the new grouping of Mechanical Engineering
and Design which will include power engineering.
The University also has plans to develop the Aston Engineering Academy – a single co-educational,
non-selective Academy to be established in Birmingham City Centre as part of the wider Transforming
Education agenda. The Academy will cater for 14-19 year olds, offering them apprenticeships, diplomas in
Manufacturing, Engineering, Business and other appropriate qualifications.
A summary of the ways in which three of the discipline groupings in the School currently include
experience-led11 components in the School’s degree programmes is given below in Table 2.
10
http://www.cdio.org/
11
In this study, an ‘experience-led engineering degree’ is understood to be an engineering degree which develops industry related skills and
which may also include industry interaction.
Engineering graduates for industry
7
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
Direct student
experience of
industry
Indirect student
experience of industry
Mechanical
Engineering & Design
Experience-led component
Electronic Engineering
Category
Chemical Engineering &
Applied Chemistry
Table 2. Summary of the experience-led components in the School of Engineering and
Applied Science at Aston University
Industrial placement year (sandwich courses)

Other industrial work placement opportunities

Large scale industry simulation

Site visits and field trips

Group projects



Realistic industry projects



Multi-disciplinary role play projects








Entry to national competitions – Formula Student,
competition module
Student involvement with professional institutions

Understanding the needs of industry
Aston’s strong employability record helps to evidence that it understands the needs of industry well:
“I was actually interviewed for my job by an Aston Chemical Engineering graduate from some years ago.They
know as well as you do that anyone graduating from Aston is fully capable and well deserves the job!”
2007 graduate, Chart Energy & Chemicals Inc. – 2009 Prospectus
The industrial input into the curriculum is summarised in Table 3 for three of the School’s discipline
groupings. In addition to the normal industrial liaison committees, nearly all of the staff have extensive
industrial experience, both prior to their academic career and through research and KTPs. This input is
enhanced by industrial visitors contributing to the curriculum, providing industrial projects and making
informal presentations. In Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry there is an annual design exercise
run by young graduates representing the British Chemical Engineering Contractors’ Association and
several industry-sponsored project prizes.
In October 2009, Aston embarked upon a new route to supporting the needs of industry with
the appointment of a Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Visiting Professor (VP) in Design and
Innovation in the Mechanical Engineering and Design group. Professor Mike Wood works at Aston for
two days per week and has a facilitating role between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in
the Birmingham catchment area and the University. The first of these days is funded by the RAEng and
mainly covers academic aspects. The second involves going out to the SMEs to establish links and build
relationships within the local industrial community and is funded by Birmingham City Council who
recognise that businesses in the locality could benefit from interacting with the University.
8
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
Teaching by staff with
industrial experience
Industry input into teaching
Industry input to the
curriculum
Teaching by staff with industrial experience


Industrial visiting professors
Mechanical
Engineering & Design
Industrial component
Electronic Engineering
Category
Chemical Engineering &
Applied Chemistry
Table 3. Summary of industrial input to the curriculum in the School of Engineering and
Applied Science at Aston University


Bought-in lecturers



Guest lectures/seminars from engineers in
industry



Industry-sponsored student prizes

Industrial liaison boards



The VP’s objective is to enable local SMEs to benefit from student research by utilising them to address
their urgent and strategic needs. Around 40 - 50 days of collaboration would be seen as one ’student
unit’ of research. Depending upon the size or complexity of the project, the number of undergraduates
engaged might necessitate not only individual research efforts but also team work. The student becomes
a company’s ‘employee’ for the duration of their final year project. Each project will be jointly supervised
by an academic supervisor and an industrial supervisor. Professor Wood will be the facilitator between
the academic and industrial partners and will provide innovative participation as and when required. The
activity aims to benefit both parties as the students gain industrial experience that will be relevant to
their degree and future career and the companies will have a specific need addressed. It is possible that
such collaboration may yield future employment prospects for the students involved.
The longer term aim is for the SMEs to start to utilise universities as a resource and to have the
confidence to develop the interaction through MSc research projects providing at least six months of
mutually beneficial research activity:
“This initiative here is to get small enterprises to aspire to become medium enterprises […] I don’t see any
‘blue chips’ coming through at the moment. So I am trying to get the medium enterprises to aspire, through
the University connections, for blue chip because we need new blue chips”
Mike Wood, RAEng VP in Design and Innovation
It is likely that this work will take about three years to become fully operational for the MEng and MSc
programmes. Work will be undertaken in conjunction with the Business Partnership Unit at Aston,
industry’s current conduit to the University’s expertise. If the VP’s work is successful the plan is to roll it
out regionally and develop similar pilot projects at other universities.
For several years the Computer Science Group has, in collaboration with external partners, delivered
several successful client-based final year projects. These projects are a mixture of ‘free’ and charged
for projects and include those that are student and academic led. In an enterprise environment, these
projects are equivalent to a full-time project of 3 months duration. There are generally two types of
project: the first is a proof of concept where the project is conceived to test out an idea by developing a
prototype software product that, if proven (through the project), becomes the requirement for a larger
scale project; the second is the development of maintainable bespoke websites, usually incorporating
a content management system, thus freeing the customer to update content without the need for
Engineering graduates for industry
9
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
employing a programmer. Part of the
success of these projects is that they are
encapsulated in an educational environment,
with academic supervision. The academic
supervision encourages the application of
sound software engineering principles and
the focus of writing a report encourages the
student to develop quality software that is
well designed and maintainable. This approach
is now being developed through the
launching of a company that will be a beacon
for clients wanting to commission high quality
small scale software projects. Computer
Science aim to have the company operational
by June-July 2010.
Effective practice exemplar 1: industrial placements
What are industrial placements?
Industrial placements are one-year work experiences in an industrial setting, integrated into the
curriculum. All of the School’s six discipline groupings have a placement scheme.
Whilst placements are not compulsory, students are actively encouraged to take up a
placement year in industry:
“I have never heard a student say I regret having done a placement but several have said,
having spoken to their friends who did, I regret not having done a placement”
Jerzy Drahun, Programme Director, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry In the School of Engineering and Applied Science during the academic year 2008-09, approximately 30%
of students found a placement.
Why have industrial placements?
The placement year in industry allows students to better appreciate the workings of professional
engineers and the applicability of their accumulating theoretical knowledge:
“I think with the modules that we’re taught on the engineering side by actually applying it or seeing it first
hand within the industry was much better for me to learn and to understand the principles much more and
then apply that knowledge throughout the final year”
final year student
The students tend to gain a significant amount from the experience, particularly in their professional skills,
confidence and motivation:
“They all come back with enthusiasm and a lot of extra information in terms of knowledge.The most
important things I think they will learn […] are communication skills – written and oral, teamwork, and
personal time management”
Jerzy Drahun, Programme Director, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
The process also has important reciprocal benefits for the academic and industrial partners in an
awareness of each other’s activities:
10
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
“Degrees must be relevant. Integrated work experience has led to Aston’s successes in employability”
Helen Higson, PVC External Relations
“The QAA audit described the School’s industrial placements as a strength […] students return with renewed
enthusiasm, maturity and tend to get better final award classifications”
Engineering Systems and Management Group, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, March 2008
How do industrial placements work?
The placement year is integrated into the curriculum and students are prepared for it during the first
two years of their degree programme by building up their employability skills. They are supervised whilst
on placement and assessed on the skills and competencies obtained.
Typically, placements take place after the completion of the second year of the Bachelors programmes or,
occasionally, at the end of the third year for those students on MEng programmes. There is a dedicated
Placement Office which handles the administration of placements:
“The placement process is very well managed and supported by the Subject Group, and student reports and
poster presentations seen, confirm it to be a valuable learning experience”
Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Group, Institution of Chemical Engineers, March 2007
The Placement Office not only supports
students but also companies wanting to make
presentations to students to raise their profile
or to hold interviews on campus.
Students can obtain a placement with a
company at any time during the preceding
academic year. From the employers’ perspective,
timing can be important. Some of the big
companies often start recruiting early, in the
preceding October or November, and these
tend to get the best students. Other companies
sometimes don’t contact the School until
later into the academic year, possibly through
budgetary issues, and then are limited to the
number of students available.
Often placement opportunities come
through from alumni relationships which
are nurtured by the School with help from
the Alumni Office.
The School does have students placed abroad
and grants are available for those going to
European countries where pay may be lower.
Occasionally students go to companies outside
Europe. This may be to their home country (if
they are an international student) or to Englishspeaking countries such as the USA or Australia.
Currently around 5% of placements are to
European countries and one or two placements
a year to countries outside Europe.
At present not all the students who would
like to take a placement year are successful in
obtaining one. This academic year (2008/09) saw
a decline in the number of available placements.
Engineering graduates for industry
11
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
This is due almost entirely to the economic downturn. Recently, however, there has been evidence of
recovery, indicated by a growth in the number of placement opportunities available.
When looking for an industrial placement, students are in competition with each other and often with
other universities. Whether a student is successful or not can often be attributable to their interview
technique. Staff have reported that students with relatively poor first year marks (the only information
available to companies at the time of interview) may sometimes obtain a placement, while others who
may be the highest academic achievers sometimes fail to do so through poor interview performance.
Within the School there are various modules designed to develop the career management skills of
students. Classes are provided as part of an assessed module that develop CV writing, application form
completion and interview technique. These are run and assessed by the Careers Office over five onehour sessions. There are plans for a unified approach to be extended to all areas and incorporated within
current curricula.
Whilst on placement, students have an industrial supervisor and an academic supervisor who is often
their personal tutor at Aston. Academic supervisors normally make two visits to each student on UK
placements and one visit to overseas placements. Typically, supervisor visits are of a half day duration,
during which time the academic supervisor talks with the industrial supervisor and with the student. The
student shows the academic supervisor around their place of work and explains what they are doing, as
they would to someone who is not familiar with the situation. This is assessed. The amount of reporting
varies between disciplines. Chemical Engineering requires an interim report at the end of January and a
full report at the end of June. Other areas, such as Mechanical Engineering, require a log diary to be kept
and a final report to be submitted on completion of the placement. Some ask for two half-yearly diary
submissions (one in December and the second in April) prior to submission of a final report.
12
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
In Product Design programmes,
students also have to prepare a poster
that is judged for a book prize funded
by one of the companies.
The placement administrative support
team keeps in regular contact with
students on placements, reminding
them of submission dates and
informing them of what is going on at
the University. There is an additional
means of communication through
Aston’s virtual learning environment.
The minimum requirement is for the
student to spend 45 weeks on their
placement. There is some scope in the
regulations if, for example, a student is
made redundant while on placement.
In these circumstances occasionally a
second placement opportunity can
be found and placement tutors are
usually happy to approve two different
placements within a year. Alternatively,
the student can obtain a waiver from
the University if they have completed
30 weeks in industry.
The placement year is viewed, by academics and employers alike, as a valuable part of an engineering
graduate’s degree experience. All participating students who pass their placement obtain a degree
certificate with ‘with professional training’ appended in recognition of their industrial experience.
The possibility of including the placement year as a creditable element in the degree programme has
recently been raised. This has highlighted issues of assessment and would remove the optional element
of a placement year. The prevailing view has been that the most appropriate people to carry out the
assessment would be the industrial supervisors, but they may not have the necessary experience. More
importantly, individual student experience whilst on placement varies widely in terms of employability
skills, responsibility and knowledge gained, making it difficult to consistently assess performance whilst on
placement.
Students obtain a financial award from the University for taking up a placement. This is currently £1,000
for paid domestic placements and £1,500 for international placements or unpaid domestic placements,
although the universal nature of these payments is under review.
Typically, students will be paid by their company while they are on a placement. The salary offered can
vary from the minimum wage (around £12,000) to some in the London area that may be over £20,000
for the year, with the average amount paid being around £15,000. The salary level does not seem to have
too much bearing on the choices made by students. One student left a well paid placement because
there was insufficient industrial supervision and no real project and transferred to an unpaid placement
where there was a good supervisor and a challenging project.
Engineering graduates for industry
13
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
Perceived benefits
The following non-exhaustive list of benefits is taken from the Engineering and Applied Science website:
• “Placement students will find that the practical application of their studies, team working, time management and presentation skills learned will aid their work within their final year.
• Through the placement the University is able to create and strengthen links with industry, commerce
and the public sector - links which facilitate collaboration in research, teaching and practice.
• Employers prefer to employ students with placement experience.
• It has been noted that the grades of placement students in EAS have improved following an industrial
placement year.
• Students get an insight into their chosen career by taking on a proper role in a professional organisation, whilst being able to contribute to that organisation.
• Placement students will gain appreciation of the workplace through meeting specified targets and
working regular hours.
• Most students returning are enthusiastic about the experience.
• Employers are able to assess prospective employees at work - a 12 month interview.
• Placement students are employed to solve specific problems and examine areas of development
(many companies employ a succession of placement students).”
Offering placements helps to raise the level of applications for engineering programmes:
“Our choice of Aston University, because of its emphasis on sandwich placements, was
fully justified and we would recommend all students to seize the opportunities offered by
placement years”
two 2006 graduates, Balfour Beatty – 2009 Prospectus
There is universal acceptance that a placement is beneficial to students but there is some debate over
the exact nature of the benefit. Most staff report seeing increased levels of enthusiasm for the subject
and of self confidence among returning students. Their communication skills have greatly improved and
this correlates with an improvement in final degree classification over their projected level prior to going
on placement. Some suggest an entire degree class improvement:
“We’ve just had our final internal boards and the comments made again by ourselves and the externals is
that a placement is worth a degree classification”
Dave Smith, Projects co-ordinator
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC) for External Relations considers that, over a range of subject areas, the
average grade improvement is around 5%, which would equate to half a degree class. Some academics
argue that these grade improvements are purely down to the acquisition of professional employability
skills:
“The gain is not on the academic skills but on the employability skills”
Helen Higson, PVC External Relations
In engineering it would be difficult to discount academic improvement through increased technical
knowledge and understanding. If students are not obtaining academic benefits then it has been suggested
that the placements have not been designed properly.
Students recognise the career benefits that can follow from a well chosen placement12:
12
http://www1.aston.ac.uk/eas/placement-year/student-profiles/
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Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
“The experience I have gained is experience that I couldn’t have gained in an academic setting and will be
extremely beneficial for my future employability. I have had the opportunity to work with people around the
world in a global working environment and I have had the responsibility of working on worldwide, important
projects”
BSc Computing for Business placement student, Intel (Swindon)
“The practical experience, exposure and insight that I have gleaned during my time with IMEG has been
of unquantifiable personal, educational and professional benefit. However, it must be said that without the
assistance and invaluable guidance of my supervisors and colleagues, this success would not have been
realised”
MEng Chemical Engineering placement student, IMEG Ltd
For the company, the placement is effectively a year-long interview and many students subsequently
receive offers of employment from their placement company, most of which are accepted. A student at
the end of their placement year is often very proficient:
“The placement student, at the end of his or her year, would be better value for money compared to a
graduate starting at the same time because they know the people, they know the system, they know the
process”
Jerzy Drahun, Programme Director, Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
Engineering graduates for industry
15
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
Challenges
The main challenge in the current financial crisis is the difficulty of finding enough placements for all
those who would like to undertake them. The University has targeted some resources towards obtaining
more placement opportunities and some sections of engineering are considering two placements of six
months at each, thus reducing the financial burden on individual companies. Students are also willing to
make sacrifices themselves:
“Some of the students having known about the advantages of placements have been going for unpaid
placements”
Sudha Vaidya, School Placements Officer
In Chemical Engineering there is a particular difficulty in securing placements with the large contracting
companies that produce off-the-shelf designs for chemical plant. These companies argue that it takes too
long to train someone to do the design work. Conversely, they maintain that they can have difficulties
recruiting and retaining graduate chemical engineers.
An issue for Chemistry students is the lack of chemical-based industry in the Birmingham area. In
recent years Aston has seen an increase in students from the local community who live at home whilst
attending university and therefore want a local placement. More opportunities are available on the
mechanical engineering side.
Some students simply do not want to do placements and this provides a significant challenge to staff.
Aston hope that this will be at least partially addressed by a current review of open days and marketing
material given to students.
Running a placement scheme is resource intensive, both in terms of placement organisation and
administration and finding the time for academics to make supervisory visits. Aston’s PVC External
Relations determined last year that in order to administer placements in the Business School it cost them
around £0.5 million in terms of the necessary infrastructure.
“That’s expensive but actually when you properly cost it in terms of benefit to the economy, benefit to the
students and benefit to our standing with companies, it is nothing. It is where our reputation has been built
[…] It is really money well spent”
Helen Higson, PVC External Relations
Future developments and ideas
The PVC External Relations has a role to increase the opportunities for placements in all areas of the
University.
“By 2012 every student will have the opportunity to have integrated work experience”
Helen Higson, PVC External Relations
The University already works hard at finding suitable placements and has recently appointed three
business development managers to assist in this.
“Their role will be to be out there linking with our company partners, finding suitable placements in target
areas and engineering is very strongly one of them”
Helen Higson, PVC External Relations
It has been observed that students who take vacation placements after the end of the first year and/or
part time jobs with employers often obtain year long placements with the same company. Consequently,
the provision of grants for these summer jobs could help prime the placements process.
16
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
Costs involved
Table 4. Recurrent costs
Cost to university
per annum
Staff
Space
Other
Total
Cost per student
Industrial Placements
£41k
–
£45k
£86k
£2150 per UK student
Notes
• Costs relate to the 40 mechanical engineering students only and include central service costs.
Students obtain an average salary of £15,000 on placement and industry pays a fee of £500 per student which is not included in the costing.
At a glance – Industrial placements
Table 5. Industrial placements at a glance
Factor
Notes
Relevance to industrial
needs
Industry preferentially recruits placement students as they have significantly more
work experience
Number of students
involved
In the current economic climate, around 30% of all engineering students obtain a
placement
Length of engagement
A placement means an additional year on the degree
Effect on staff:student
ratio
Students are based in industry but are supported by academics from Aston while
there
Method of assessment
Interim log/diary/report, final report and sometimes a poster
Sustainability of activity
Time pressure for supervisors to carry out their role. It is harder to find enough
placements in times of economic downturn
Transferability potential
of activity and risk of
implementation
A long established and well understood scheme that is undertaken in some form
in many institutions. Running the scheme would normally involve a number of
academics and administrative support
Lead time required to
start such an activity
Would take time to establish a scheme and secure placements if starting from
scratch
Effective practice exemplar 2: Foundation degrees in Power
Engineering
What are Foundation degrees in Power Engineering?
Foundation degrees (Fds) are generally two year qualifications accredited by HE and provided in either
or both HE and FE colleges. A graduate from a Fd would have the opportunity to progress on to the
final year of an undergraduate honours degree. Fds are designed to meet specific needs within industry
and, essentially, they are employer driven. Power Engineering Fds are programmes of study specifically
tailored to meet an employment requirement within the power engineering sector. Students on these
programmes are normally already employed by a power utility company, are often mature students and
attend on a part-time basis.
These Power Engineering Fds complement the Power Academy13 which involves six or seven HE
institutions running integrated masters such as MEng programmes in Power Engineering.
13
http://www.theiet.org/about/scholarships-awards/power-academy/background.cfm
Engineering graduates for industry
17
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
Why have Foundation degrees in Power Engineering?
In November 2005 Nagi Fahmi, one of several members of academic staff at Aston with extensive
experience of working in the electrical power industry, developed a vision and a template for a Fd to
address a perceived skills shortage:
“based on a rationale that at the technician level within industry there is a huge, huge problem and we are
assuming that at the higher levels, the Bachelors and Masters levels, those are reasonably well catered for but
underneath that there is just a massive hole”
Malcolm Booth, Director, Foundation Degree Centre
This need for technician and junior project manager level capability has been recognised by the power
utilities. The only other institution to develop Fd programmes in this area is London South Bank
University (LSBU) and these have been developed totally independently. However, the projected demand
for Fd Power Engineering graduates is so high (500 plus per year) that the two institutions do not believe
themselves to be in competition but instead see an opportunity to co-operate to their mutual advantage.
Currently Aston is involving LSBU in a review of its Power Engineering Fd programme delivery.
Rapid implementation of the Power Engineering Fd programme at Aston followed some serendipitous
meetings between Aston and key stakeholders. The result was that a rich association between Aston
and National Grid formed and, from the initial well-developed vision in November 2005, validation of
the Power Engineering Fd followed
in April 2006. Aston now works with
three utility companies, National Grid,
E.ON UK, and Scottish and Southern
Energy, and has run workshops to
incorporate their precise needs into
the programmes. This has enabled the
companies to buy into the programmes
and start to take ownership of them
and thus there are now three different
programmes around the power
engineering sector at Aston.
These programmes are very strongly
informed by the needs of industry
and their vocational nature enables
graduates to rapidly incorporate their
Fd learning into their work:
“When we get people like Steven Holliday, who’s Chief Executive of National Grid on a public platform stating
that ‘Foundation Degree graduates make an impact quicker on the business than conventional graduate entry’,
now that’s fantastic news”
Malcolm Booth, Director, Foundation Degree Centre
How do Foundation degrees in Power Engineering work?
The Fd programmes comprise 240 credits which are delivered over two calendar years. The students are
all employed by one of the three utility companies and are either day release or block release students,
so are not on campus full-time. The delivery of the programme and the demand on the students is
intensive, with 432 contact hours per year plus 768 expected hours of self and work-based learning.
The first year of the programme provides a basic grounding in science and technology, while the second
year is tailored to various aspects of electrical power engineering (such as a generation, distribution or
transmission business).
18
Engineering graduates for industry
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
The Fd programmes were developed by the Foundation Degree Centre and established through funding
from the HEFCE Strategic Development Fund employer engagement initiative. This funding was obtained
because of the early successes:
“Aston is at the forefront of employer-led degree programmes, having recently been awarded £1.6 million by
HEFCE to set up a Foundation Degree Centre to establish new programmes and explore other flexible modes
of delivery”
A Centre of Excellence for Teaching and Learning – Foundation Degrees, Strategy 2012
The Foundation Degree Centre has used its funding in a number of ways:
• to leverage developments and offset the risk in those early developments
• to bring in personnel for teaching and administration who will accelerate growth in Fds
• to provide a co-ordinated method of talking to stakeholders.
Aston has recognised that the study skills needs of Fd students are quite different to conventional
undergraduates’ and the Foundation Degree Centre has invested in two new posts: one in broader
generic study skills and one specifically for mathematics, as the Fd students coming in tend not to be as
strong in mathematics and basic physics concepts.
All Fds have to show how progression to an honours programme can be achieved. For the Power
Engineering students it is possible to progress to the existing BEng in Electromechanical Engineering.
However, the level of interest in progression to a tailored Power Engineering honours programme has
resulted in Aston developing a new Bachelors programme with a target start of 2010. A distance learning
progression year is currently under development and will be operational from October 2010. Between
10 and 20% of Fd graduates are expected to make this progression. There is sometimes a conflict of
interest to manage arising from the potential to progress to a degree course – the power industries are
reluctant to reduce the numbers working in the industry at the technician/junior project management
level, while the Fd graduates themselves often aspire to higher level learning as an essential part of career
progression.
Two of the utility companies involved with the Power Engineering programmes use the Fd as the
academic component of the first two years of their training programme. In their third year the graduates
move from the training post to a substantive post. In the first cohort there were ten students and these
have now progressed through to substantive posts within their companies. These graduates are providing
feedback about how their Fd has impacted on their work. In the second cohort 54 graduated and next
year 92 will graduate in Power Engineering.
Perceived benefits
The evidence that these programmes in Power Engineering meet a real industry need is indicated by the
increasing number of students coming onto them. The chosen strategy of the University is to increase
numbers steadily, learning from experience and winning the respect of industry as they do so.
Early indications from the Foundation Degree Centre indicate that one reason for the success of the
Fd programme is that it offers the right level of industry involvement with regard to time and effort for
development and employee release.
It is also believed at Aston that Fds widen participation in higher education:
“We’ve suddenly identified a whole group of people who wouldn’t have had the opportunity to
get into HE and progress further in HE as well. I think that’s fantastic”.
Malcolm Booth, Director, Foundation Degree Centre
Engineering graduates for industry
19
Aston University School of Engineering and Applied Science – case study
In addition, the Fd associations bring the potential for bigger partnerships with the sponsoring companies:
“We’re already talking about research opportunities with the three big utilities, all from that early stepping
stone of a Foundation degree”
Malcolm Booth, Director, Foundation Degree Centre
Challenges
There is concern at Aston that they may not be able to meet the future demand for these Fds:
“Even National Grid is only just beginning to realise the issue that faces them and that is an ageing workforce,
a declining population at 18 years old.There’s a massive gap growing”
Malcolm Booth, Director, Foundation Degree Centre
There is an ongoing challenge to handle the conflict arising from a student’s wish to proceed to an
honours degree and the employing company’s wish for the student to return to the workplace. This is
dealt with by advising students to talk with their companies to see how their career aspirations fit with
the needs of their company. Financial rewards and the opportunity to join a professional institution
may be incentives to retain people at technician level. This could possibly be developed through the
Engineering Council, where they are now seeing the value of the ‘Incorporated Engineer’ status.
The students that want to progress to honours programmes will encounter a vastly different learning
experience from their Fd environment. They may be moving from a small, intimate FE college situation to
find themselves suddenly immersed in a larger, more impersonal system at HE level. They will need to be
converted to self-learners and this may be especially difficult for mature students that have been away
from the learning process for 15–20 years.
Future developments and ideas
The Foundation Degree Centre will continue to expand its Fd programmes:
“The School will focus on substantially building its successful range of employer-led and vocationally-focused
Foundation degrees and introduce major changes in delivery modes, to facilitate continuing education in the
workplace, with part-time routes to many programmes”
School of Engineering and Applied Science – Community engagement, Strategy 2012).
Aston is also pioneering distance learning delivery with FE colleges, enabling attendance on campus to be
further reduced, also reducing the cost to businesses of releasing their employees for study. Developing
distance learning approaches requires additional resources for specialised staff and for the new
technologies involved. These courses will not be totally delivered by distance learning but will be blended
with laboratory support and residential weekends on campus.
At a glance – Foundation degrees in Power Engineering
Table 6. Foundation degrees in Power Engineering at a glance
20
Factor
Notes
Relevance to industrial
needs
Fds are developed in conjunction with industry and meet a clearly defined
industrial need
Number of students
involved
Currently about 90 with numbers increasing rapidly
Length of engagement
Two years full-time
Method of assessment
Examination, coursework and work-based project
Sustainability of activity
Fds are meeting an industrial need and therefore the activity should be
sustainable
Transferability potential
of activity and risk of
implementation
The Foundation Degree Centre at Aston has already proved its ability to increase
the range of its Fds. Fds are already offered by a range of HE institutions
Lead time required to
start such an activity
Significant planning is required to set up a complete Fd from scratch
Engineering graduates for industry
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This is achieved through our strategic aims:
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