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Re-engineer learning to prepare industry-ready graduates

Singapore faces the twin challenges of enticing more people to become engineers and preparing young engineers well for the technical aspects of the job.

The Jurong Rock Caverns, South-east Asia’s first commercial underground rock cavern storage facility for liquid hydrocarbons, is a feat of engineering in Singapore. But waning interest in engineering means there is an urgent need to prepare the next generation of engineers early or risk delays in the country’s development due to lack of talent. TODAY FILE PHOTO

The Jurong Rock Caverns, South-east Asia’s first commercial underground rock cavern storage facility for liquid hydrocarbons, is a feat of engineering in Singapore. But waning interest in engineering means there is an urgent need to prepare the next generation of engineers early or risk delays in the country’s development due to lack of talent. TODAY FILE PHOTO

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Singapore faces the twin challenges of enticing more people to become engineers and preparing young engineers well for the technical aspects of the job.

The country needs 1,000 more engineers every year for the next five years, recent government figures showed, to work on the huge pipeline of infrastructural projects ranging from constructing the ever-expanding MRT network to research and development opportunities in electronics.

There has, however, been waning interest in engineering with fewer people pursuing it as a career in recent years, perhaps due to its less than glamorous image and lack of high salary. But there is an urgent need to prepare the next generation of engineers early or risk delays in the country’s development due to lack of talent.

The Government recently announced that it is reviewing the salary and career progression of its engineers, as well as including more variety in their job scope, as a way to attract and retain talent. It is welcome news which could boost the engineering industry with surveys showing that the average monthly starting pay of engineers is between S$2,800 and S$3,500.

Beyond producing more engineers, tertiary institutions also need to teach relevant skills as graduates seem to be lacking when it comes to understanding the latest trends, methods and modern tools that industry uses. Mastering this knowledge takes time, goes beyond reading textbooks and should start before a graduate enters the workforce.

At a recent roundtable discussion held with academics from institutions around South-east Asia, participants examined factors ailing engineering today, and how companies and educators could develop more compelling, industry-relevant engineering education.

During the discussion, there was consensus on the need for closer collaboration with industry players to enable academia to develop curriculum that addresses current and future needs in a rapidly changing global environment, and producing engineers who are technically capable, adaptable and armed with practical experience.

What needs to be done to attract more students to study engineering and ensure they are not only academically adept, but also able to think on their feet and meet the real-life challenges thrown at them in their first years of work?

START THEM YOUNG

Youngsters need to be exposed to practical learning at an early age to ignite a passion for exploration which leads to enhanced skills in problem solving and teamwork — essential abilities in any engineer. For this to occur, collaboration is required between primary-level educators, the Government and industry.

One good scheme is the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Applied Learning Programme (STEM ALP), which enables students to apply their knowledge and skills in science, mathematics and technology to solve real-world problems.

The MOE recently announced that 42 secondary schools are offering this programme. And by 2017, half of the 124 mainstream secondary schools in Singapore are expected to offer it to students. It is hoped the programme can be extended to more schools.

Some schools have also taken the initiative to teach more science-related topics beyond what is required in the national curriculum.

For instance, Rulang Primary School has included robotics in its formal curriculum to complement its shift from quantity to quality teaching and learning since 2005. The school’s robotics education enables pupils to learn through experience. As a result, Rulang has developed into a leader in qualitative education, receiving numerous prizes including the Zonal Centre of Excellence for Robotics West Zone in 2008.

In an effort to encourage more hands-on learning early, educators and the Government are refocusing curriculum to become more encompassing and exploratory. This is a vital step in preparing youngsters with practical skills that will be valued in any number of professions, including engineering, but requires further support from tertiary educators.

PRODUCING INDUSTRY-READY ENGINEERS

A key hurdle in preparing industry-ready graduates is that many more traditional higher education providers still overlook the importance of students being able to hit the ground running and continue to focus heavily on academia in their curriculum. On the other hand, more progressive institutes are bridging gaps by becoming more diverse.

One way is to include more hands-on engineering experience during undergraduate years through internship programmes with engineering companies. Some tertiary institutions such as Nanyang Technological University do so with its Renaissance Engineering Programme which was started in 2011.

The programme, which attracts around 400 applicants each year, is highly sought after as it offers students a year-long course with a partner university and they can take up internships at start-ups and companies abroad.

Offering double-degree or hybrid courses is another way of broadening learning and enables students to gain a better understanding of functions associated with, but not taught, in an engineering course. Such courses also stir greater interest among students who can learn another skill such as accounting or business, in addition to engineering, resulting in more people taking up these dual programmes.

Polytechnic institutions are becoming increasingly creative in their hybrid course offerings and enticed more students back to engineering. Ngee Ann’s hybrid Engineering and Business Management programme, for instance, is gaining popularity and now attracts students with aggregate O-Level scores as low as nine points, compared with 18 when it was first launched in 2010.

Unfortunately, innovative teaching methodologies may not pass muster with the accreditation bodies that govern the structure, standards and rankings of tertiary institutions, which is why some tertiary institutions remain largely conservative towards embracing holistic teaching and moving away from strict academia.

Regardless of this, academic institutions can look at forming industry councils with partners to identify engineering challenges and tailor curriculum that encompasses more applied learning to better prepare students for the workforce and result in higher graduate employment.

The Government is providing a range of career services as part of its five-year plan to build skills for the future. It is now up to educators and industry to come together and play a leading role in helping to prepare industry-ready engineers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Victor Mieres is Vice-President of the Emerging Markets, Asia/Rest of World region and is responsible for National Instruments’ business in India, Russia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia and Africa. Mr Mieres also serves on the advisory team for the dean of engineering at The University of Texas in San Antonio.

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