ALUMNI SURVEY
AT QUB
SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL & MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING
QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY BELFAST
PREMISE
ALUMNIALUMNI
INTAKEINTAKE
GRADUATION &
EMPLOYMENT
GRADUATION &
EMPLOYMENT
ENGINEERING
DEGREE
PROGRAMME
ENGINEERING
DEGREE
PROGRAMME
SURVEY INTAKE TO ESTABLISH EXISTING
EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
SURVEY INTAKE TO ESTABLISH EXISTING
EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
SURVEY ALUMNI TO ESTABLISH REQUIRED
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
SURVEY ALUMNI TO ESTABLISH REQUIRED
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
REDESIGN PROGRAMME
TO TRANSFORM
KNOWN INPUTS INTO REQUIRED OUTPUTS
REDESIGN PROGRAMME
TO TRANSFORM
KNOWN INPUTS INTO REQUIRED OUTPUTS
Engineering programmes should be “designed” (in an engineering
sense) to transform KNOWN INPUTS into REQUIRED OUTPUTS.
1. Of the various stakeholders, Alumni are best placed to provide
guidance on the REQUIRED OUTPUTS.
• Faculty and Students should also be surveyed, but primarily
to identify misconceptions.
2. Alumni opinion should be sought on the WHOLE CURRICULUM
including:
• The required engineering and underlying subject knowledge.
• The required additional (non-engineering) subject knowledge.
QUB ASSUMPTIONS
• Many Alumni are also “informed employers”.
1. Alumni were asked to respond using a “resource or importance
based” scale, rather than a “proficiency based” scale.
2. Responses were to be based on “direct experience”.
OTHER AMENDMENTS
1. To have experienced or been exposed to
2. To be able to participate in and contribute to
3. To be able to understand and explain
4. To be skilled in the practice or implementation of
5. To be able to lead or innovate in
1. of no importance
2. unimportant
3. important
4. very important
5. essential
Answer on the basis
of what you expect
from a graduating
engineer.
Answer on the basis of your personal experience
i.e. judge each subject, topic or skill on its relevance to:
(i) your career since you graduated from Queen’s
(ii) the careers of other Mechanical / Manufacturing
Engineering graduates whose work you are familiar with.
THE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
1. MATHEMATICS
2. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
3. ADDITIONAL SUBJECTS
4. SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES
5. ALLOCATION OF TEACHING TIME
6. OTHER INFORMATION
7. COMMENTS
STRUCTURE OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
Questionnaire mailed to 800 Alumni who graduated between
5 and 30 years ago. 150 replies received to date.
1. MATHEMATICS
1. RESULTS (RANKED)
Rank TOPICAve
Rating
1 Geometry 4.06
2 Trigonometry 4.01
3 Algebra 3.86
4 Probability & Statistics 3.82
5 Vectors 3.22
6 Calculus 1 (ODEs) 3.14
7 Matrices 2.98
8 Calculus 2 (PDEs) 2.71
9 Vector Calculus 2.41
10 Complex Numbers 2.33
11 Transforms 2.26
% 4 or 5
(very important or essential)
% 1 or 2
(no importance or unimportant)
69 5
69 7
62 11
65 11
40 29
36 31
34 36
21 44
17 60
13 62
11 65
2. MECH ENGINEERING SCIENCE
2. RESULTS (Ave Rating)
2.1 Thermo & Fluids
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
2.2 Solid Mechanics
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
2.3 Engineering Dynamics
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
IMPORTANCE RATING
2. RESULTS (% 4 or 5)
2.1 Thermo & Fluids
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
2.2 Solid Mechanics
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
2.3 Engineering Dynamics
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
% 4 or 5 (Very Important or Essential)
2. RESULTS (Older v Younger)
2.1 Thermo & Fluids
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
2.2 Solid Mechanics
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
2.3 Engineering Dynamics
(a) Principles
(b) Relationships
(c) Equations
% 4 or 5 (Very Important or Essential)
Striped = 20 or more years Plain = Less than 10 years
3. ADDITIONAL SUBJECTS
3. ADDITIONAL SUBJECTS (cont)
3. RESULTS (Ranked 1 to 10)
Rank TOPICAve
Rating
% 4 or 5
(very important or essential)
1 Engineering Design 4.40 88
2 Manufacturing Processes & Technologies 3.95 68
3 Materials Science 3.80 61
4 Product Innovation & Development 3.77 62
5 Quality Systems 3.73 58
6 Production Management & Control 3.61 54
7 Management Theory & Practices 3.54 52
8 Business & Enterprise Systems 3.50 50
9 Fluid Power 3.42 47
10 Entrepreneurship 3.39 41
3. RESULTS (Ranked 11 to 20)
Rank TOPICAve
Rating
% 4 or 5
(very important or essential)
11 Electrical Engineering 3.30 39
12 Law 3.12 33
13 Electronics 3.08 28
14 Mechatronics 3.06 28
15 Accounting Methods & Practices 3.04 30
16 Control 3.03 30
17 Instrumentation 3.03 24
18 Economics 3.01 29
19 Marketing Methods & Practices 2.97 27
20 Computer Programming 2.95 34
4. SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES
4. SKILLS & ATTRIBUTES (cont)
4. RESULTS
Eng. Reasoning and Problem Solving
Exp. and Knowledge Discovery
System Thinking
Personal Skills & Attributes
Professional Skills & Attitudes
Teamwork and Leadership
Communications
External & Societal Context
Enterprise & Business Context
Conceiving
Designing
Implementing
Operating QUB Alumni
4. RESULTS (Scaled v MIT ALUMNI*)
Eng. Reasoning and Problem Solving
Exp. and Knowledge Discovery
System Thinking
Personal Skills & Attributes
Professional Skills & Attitudes
Teamwork and Leadership
Communications
External & Societal Context
Enterprise & Business Context
Conceiving
Designing
Implementing
Operating
QUB Alumni
MIT Alumni
TRENDLINES
* CDIO Syllabus
Report - MIT 2001
DETAILS
4. RESULTS (Scaled v MIT ALUMNI)
Eng. Reasoning and Problem Solving
Exp. and Knowledge Discovery
System Thinking
Personal Skills & Attributes
Professional Skills & Attitudes
Teamwork and Leadership
Communications
External & Societal Context
Enterprise & Business Context
Conceiving
Designing
Implementing
Operating
QUB Alumni
MIT Alumni
4. RESULTS (ALUMNI v FACULTY)
QUB Alumni
QUB Faculty
Eng. Reasoning and Problem Solving
Exp. and Knowledge Discovery
System Thinking
Personal Skills & Attributes
Professional Skills & Attitudes
Teamwork and Leadership
Communications
External & Societal Context
Enterprise & Business Context
Conceiving
Designing
Implementing
Operating
5. ALLOCATION OF TIME
5. RESULTS (RANKED)
2.35Mathematics6
3.06Mechanical Engineering Science
5
3.13Practical Work: Laboratory Classes
4
3.44Additional Subjects3
3.81Developing Skills and Attributes
2
3.84Practical Work: Design, Build and Test
1
Ave
Rating AREA OF
CURRICULUMRank
05
918
2126
4849
5967
7164
Older AlumniYounger Alumni
% 4 or 5
(More or Considerable More Time)
CONCLUSIONS
1. We need to place more emphasis on:
(a) Fundamental Principles in Engineering Science.
(b) Practical Work involving Design, Build and Test.
(c) The Development of Skills and Attributes.
2. In Mathematics, we need to ensure that students are
competent in pre-university subjects.
3. We need to review the priority we give to each of the
“Additional Subjects” we include in the curriculum.
4. We need to focus on the particular Skills and Attributes
that are relevant to the needs of our graduates.
i.e. OUR RESULTS SUPPORT CDIO.
Top Related