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.