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This article undertakes a cross-national comparison of the aerospace sectors in two 'liberal' countries, the UK and Australia, examining how several multinational firms engage with engineering skill institutions: regulation of entry to profession, entry-level and ongoing training. The paper empirically demonstrates and theoretically argues that the social partners and employment protection institutions can in certain contexts play an important role in professional skill development. Institutional legacy matters, shaping multinational responses and providing distinct resources for various actors including unions. Tension between existing skill institutions ('country' or 'sector' effects) and the capacity of multinationals (MNCs) to shape practices are addressed. Both country cases demonstrate how MNCs may be able to shape practices in such a way that they create 'MNC' effects, defined as a combination of large firm/subsidiary, and 'corporate' effects, that affect engineering skill development for other firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A great deal of enterprise teaching is carried out in business schools and has been for many years. The challenge of the UK's Science Enterprise Challenge was to extend enterprise teaching more thoroughly to science and engineering students. While some of the centres launched under the initiative developed the activity of business schools, there were notable exceptions. This paper focuses on the attempts to implement the challenges of teaching enterprise to engineering students in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield. This was one of the most successful departmental interventions of the White Rose Centre for Enterprise (WRCE), formed in 1999 as part of the UK Science Enterprise Challenge initiative. WRCE's remit, like that of the other science enterprise centres, was to increase enterprise learning and entrepreneurship, thus bringing about a 'cultural change' in those universities involved in the collaboration. WRCE's approach was to embed enterprise in the teaching programme of the science and engineering departments. The general propositions of WRCE are reviewed in the light of the activities within the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Some detailed qualifications of those propositions arise, with strong emphasis on the importance of pedagogic approaches and sequence of content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia, has sought accreditation from the UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) for its Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Mechanical programme. To be accredited, the programme must satisfactorily incorporate the UK-SPEC general learning outcomes, which have to be mapped to the Faculty's programme educational objectives and programme outcomes. The contents of the various courses comprising the programme have to be integrated to bring all the learning outcomes together and taught in a systematic approach to become a total system. In the project design, issues such as sustainable development, risk, health and safety, and professional ethics are areas of concern. This paper describes how IMechE's UK regulations and requirements are being met, and relates the Faculty's experience with the accreditation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a snapshot of the findings from the National Survey (1999) into CAA activity in higher education and gives an overview of the usage of CAA in the engineering sector. It offers an insight into the ways in which technology and objective tests can be used to assess a range of learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the uncertainties of the electrical power supply in Great Britain. He says that the success of the government in encouraging the installation of 200 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic panels has reduced the demand for power. He mentions that the cruciality of engineering profession for the future prosperity was realized. He also mentions on his retirement and his successor, professor Richard Stone.

Provides information on teaching mechanical design principles on engineering foundation courses at universities in Great Britain. Nature of problem solving in mechanical design; Details on the problem solving method for mechanical product analysis; Externalization of concepts with the aid of drawing and sketching; Significance of the ability of students to combine mechanical principles and creativity.