Connections to research and professional practice are both essential components of engineering education, although handled differently across engineering programmes. The aim of this paper is to identify discourses on these components across three engineering programmes to in depth understand these variations. A discourse analysis was conducted on…

The article discusses the challenges and the potential approaches of competence-based programmes for higher education institutions, starting at their inception in the Bologna process. It focuses particularly on curriculum transformation and implementation of action-orientated learning concepts. Consequently, the article takes stock of recent…

Educational collaboration activities are generally under-researched part of the interactive learning between universities and industry. The study based on 529 Master of Science (MSc) theses from a major Swedish engineering school, the faculty of engineering LTH at Lund University, shows that MSc theses are a frequently used collaboration mechanism…

Innovation is a key component to the success and longevity of companies. Our research opens the "black box" of creativity and innovation in R&D teams. We argue that understanding the nature of R&D projects in terms of creativity/innovation, efficiency/inefficiency, is important for designing education policies and improving…

This study explores the usefulness of academic research to engineering practitioners. Issues such as knowledge transfer, the research-practice gap and the changing social/political environment are discussed. An empirical survey of practitioners is analysed to better understand the engineering professions use of academic material, such as research…

In the twenty-first century, meeting our technological challenges demands educational excellence, a skilled populace that is ready for the critical challenges society faces. There is widespread consensus, however, that education systems are failing to adequately prepare all students with the essential twenty-first century knowledge and skills…

Collaboration between Industry and University is becoming more important in order to improve the competitiveness of the research and development activities. Moreover, establishing synergies to bridge the gap between the academic and industrial spheres has demonstrated to be advantageous for both of them. Nowadays, Industry is moving towards an…

In the early 1990s, several studies pointed out a significant gap in earnings between engineers in private firms working in Research and Development (R&D) and those in other activities. The purpose of this article is to assess, from conventional Mincerian models, to what extent these findings are still valid. The different levels of…

This article explores issues relating to innovation in engineering education arising from the implementation of e-education. This can be correlated with innovation in general. We describe a systematic approach to innovative design and utilise this approach in engineering education. The main emphasis is on the presentation of attitudes, approaches…

International companies are recognised by equity between men and women as well as between other different groups (Diversity) as an economic factor and incorporate it into their company visions. Mixed teams are set up to design target group-oriented products, for example in automotive engineering. Therefore they need employees who represent the…

EU graduation and the recruitment of industrial engineers (IEs) have been investigated. An increasing demand is observed for graduates in almost all industrial engineering (IE) subjects. The labour market in the EU is evolving towards the service sector even if manufacturing still represents a significant share of both IE employment and gross…

Examines reasons why bonds between higher education and industry must be strengthened in Ireland, indicating that competitiveness and unemployment in Ireland require it, that research and development (R&D) resources of universities can be the lifeblood for many future developments for manufacturing companies, and that Ireland lags behind other…

In the present paper we question how engineering education (and engineering) can support greater participation and inclusiveness in decision making and science and technology. We consider the work "relating" to engineering and society that is conducted by the scholars of science and technology studies, but which is rarely read or considered by the…

The purpose of this brief paper is to provide insight into the kinds of work being done by an education research group in a US physics department. As will be evident, instructional technology raises many interesting questions and lends itself to a wide variety of studies. References and contacts are provided for readers wanting more detailed…

Describes and discusses three aspects of cooperation between industry and engineering schools in Denmark: (1) practical training of undergraduates; (2) cooperation in research and development; and (3) industry's help to the university with renewal of its equipment. Indicates that the last few years have brought important changes in these areas.…