Volume 9 issue 1 Nuclear Future
Case study 2 Current research engineer Jonathan Squire
What attracted you to the EngD programme (instead of a normal PhD)? When I finished university, I felt that I wanted to continue in research but I did not want to stay in university. The EngD offered the perfect combination of being able to do world- class research but in an industrial setting. My particular project concerned the scale-up and industrialisation of lab-scale work and the EngD seemed the perfect fit. I also thought the commercial and business aspects of the EngD would give a more rounded experience.
What benefits have you gained from undertaking your project within a commercial context? I think the main thing I have gained is an improved understanding of the constraints that real problems create. In many industries, nuclear in particular, there are no purely scientific decisions, and learning how political and economic factors influence outcomes has been invaluable.
A full list of projects is available at the Nuclear EngD website2 The projects are completed over the four years of the EngD
.
programme. Table 1 shows how the project work is integrated with the technical and enterprise management modules, and with the professional development programme over the four- year period.
Quality control A management board comprising representatives from the partner universities and the main supporting companies meets regularly with a remit to ensure that the Nuclear EngD is meeting the objectives set out by the funding council. A primary objective is to maintain the very high-quality of the projects that are approved to be a part of the programme. All project proposals are subjected to independent review by experts from industry and academia, and their reports are considered by a panel of academics from the lead universities. Rigorous scrutiny of all aspects of each proposal guarantees that only the very best projects are accepted and then advertised. The management board also ensures that each of the research themes, initially requested to be addressed by the research council, have projects proposed to address the challenges. Since 2006, over 60 research engineers have entered the
programme and since 2010 the graduating students have started entering the UK nuclear industry and using their combined technical and commercial knowledge.
The two case studies given highlight the experiences of
a research engineer nearing the end of his project and one who finished over a year ago. Both conclude that they would recommend the EngD programme to any prospective research engineer who was looking for a challenging and rewarding four- year research project based in industry. Further details on the programme for interested industry
sponsors or students are available on the Nuclear EngD website,
www.manchester.ac.uk/engd
How will the Diploma in Enterprise Management help with your future career? It has helped me to understand changes my sponsor company has introduced. Topics discussed in the diploma mean that I can understand the intention of the message rather than just the message.
Why would you recommend the EngD programme to future students? This is a great way to do world-class research outside of university. The programme is challenging and that’s why I would recommend it.
John Roberts
John Roberts is the Nuclear Fellow in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester. He is also a visiting academic in the Department of Materials at Imperial College London. He currently teaches on Nuclear Masters courses at the universities of Manchester, Surrey and Southampton as well as several CPD courses including
in Luxembourg and China. He has given invited presentations worldwide with particular emphasis on skills and education for the new nuclear workforce and is responsible for the development of the UK nuclear universities portal
www.nuclearliaison.com. John is an IAEA Technical Expert on knowledge management, education and outreach, and a board member of the European Nuclear Education Network. He obtained his PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Liverpool.
References
1. Renaissance Nuclear Skills Series 1. Power people: the civil nuclear workforce 2009–2025. Available at
www.cogent-ssc. com/research/Publications/NuclearReportPowerPeople.pdf
2.www.manchester.ac.uk/engd
Nuclear Engineering EngD 37
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