Editor’s choice NMiTE aims to be a centre for innovative engineering education
A new model in engineering education
Instrumentation Monthly recently visited the pioneering future engineering university, NMiTE, to find out how its innovative approach to learning will create the engineers of the future
T
he UK engineering sector is facing a crisis with a skills shortage of unprecedented levels. According to a
government study, the engineering sector would need 186,000 skilled recruits each year until 2024. To help address the shortage and encourage young people into the field, the government announced that 2018 was the Year of Engineering. Time will tell if the Year of Engineering will have achieved one of its goals of encouraging more young people to select engineering as their future career but one unique initiative is taking the (Hereford) bull by the horns to nurture new talent. NMiTE (New Model in Technology and
Engineering) aims to change technology and engineering education. By moving away from
Professor Martin Gillie, the new Provost and chief academic officer at NMiTE
traditional forms of learning and opening its doors to students who may not have completed A-levels in mathematics and physics, the initiative plans to develop graduates that represent the changing world of engineering. The new university, based in the cathedral city of Hereford, will use project-based learning and weave the humanities into the education programme to develop well-rounded engineers who can step directly into an engineering role. Speaking at the inauguration of the university in October, Professor Rodriguez-Falcon, NMiTE’s chief executive, said: “NMiTE is developing the world’s most radical learning environment for engineering students so we can deliver creative, confident, work-ready problem-solvers, with the qualities to become the country’s top engineers and industrial innovators. “We are revolutionising engineering education
by combining the most successful ways to learn from around the world into a new, bold and inspiring approach. Our fast-track programme will deliver high value and an engineering education like no other. Learning is centred around students solving practical engineering challenges, including their commercial aspects too, by working entirely on real-world problems provided by UK employers.” Last month, Instrumentation Monthly visited NMiTE to find out more about the university.
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We met up with Professor Martin Gillie, the new Provost and chief academic officer at the institution. Professor Gillie explained that students at NMiTE can expect to be taught differently, with a move away from traditional lecture-based learning and a move towards ‘sprints’. These sprints comprise project based learning where students will concentrate on one task at a time with one week tool kits to learn a new skill.
SpriNTS iN acTioN A unique aspect of the institution, and helping to dictate many aspects of NMiTE is the Design Cohort. The Design Cohort team were on hand to demonstrate how sprints work in action when Instrumentation Monthly visited. The Design Cohort comprises 25 members who have recently completed A-levels or degrees. The Design Cohort is made up from a group of young adults who put their name forward to be part of something highly unusual - the set up of the first new university in the UK for 40 years. The successful candidates were sifted through a two minute video and a selection day where they had to assert the qualities and skills they could bring to the project while answering questions like how to promote the new university. When the lucky 25 were selected, they were set to work on developing aspects of NMiTE. The Design Cohort is split into groups
March 2019 Instrumentation Monthly
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