FEATURE INTERVIEW
There are concerns that the younger generation is being drawn away from the material study of manufacturing. Christian Lynn, editor of Electronics, sits down with Stewart Edmondson, CEO of UKESF, to discuss how this can change
Christian Lynn: It appears that, as digitisation looks to hit the nail in the coffin of conservative manufacturing, education in electronic engineering and hardware design is more of a rarity. What do you think are the core causes for this? Or would you argue against this?
Stew Edmondson: Overall, there is a deficit in people interested in electronics at an educational level generally, despite the overarching interest in technology, coding, computer science and mechanical engineering. But there are reasons to be optimistic. Key, growing areas – medical, automotive, AI – are attracting a wealth of student attention, with some non- traditional companies looking to utilise these students’ skills in a wide array of sectors, and for numerous applications. The emphasis on ‘some’ comes as a result of the weak link between industry signals for a particular skill set, such as digital engineering in the light of Industry 4.0 and industrial IoT (IIoT), and what higher education and other educational institutions are producing, in terms of qualifications. Syllabuses and courses are not quite attuned to the demands of the electronics world. Yes, digitisation is commandeering the processes and management of traditional electronics manufacturing, as per your question. But even this has struggled to translate into the way the next generation understand the wider electronics market. Both of these factors need to communicate more securely, going forward.
CL: What is UKESF’s role in all of this? How does the foundation hope
12 FEBRUARY 2020 | ELECTRONICS
to affect change on the education schemes in the UK, in order to get more young people entering the industry? Is social media going to play a big part in this at all?
SE: Perceptively, there’s three areas to focus on. Firstly, we need to raise awareness for electronics, making that connection between the technology that young people use and relating this to use cases that benefit society, solving contemporary concerns such as those in the medical sector and those for the environmental cause. This ultimately leads to electronics engineering, as all technology depends on electronics: the UK offers the educational means to meet this requirement. Now, miniaturisation has affected an oblivious attitude towards the technology students use and its connections to these valuable areas. But, a key device such as a smartphone consists of a great many of these miniaturised components, produced right here in the UK. Bringing examples like this to light is some kind of start. This leads me onto our campaigns.
Firstly, there’s ‘Turn On To Electronics’, which hopes to ease this message across: technology is for the future, technology is dependent on electronics, electronics is something you can produce in the UK. At the fundamental level, UKESF intends to emphasise these points. Teachers have a great part to play in portraying this message: electronics must be explicit. UKESF also supports them through a scheme dubbed ‘Electronics Everywhere’, training teachers and providing them with resources to enable the adequate, engaging tutoring of computing and
physics curriculums. We also partner with 24 universities across the UK, to work together on outreach programmes and finding relevant courses for millennials, accentuating the opportunities for tactical work experience and placements, an essential demand for employers.
CL: How do the demographics differ and does this affect the turnout for people that go on to study electronics? Is it easier to get kids interested, as their minds are more open to different avenues, or do older university students, equipped with the appropriate STEM skills, provide the perfect platform?
SE: I think there’s elements of both. You need a fundamental interest in the STEM subjects. A friend of mine that works at one of UKESF’s representative universities highlights project learning as a contemporary mode of education: underpinning knowledge is informed by motivational tasks to innovate and develop. But this then relates to the point about applications, returning to key areas such as technology going green. Millennials care about the environment; they want to develop and sustain stronger healthcare and diagnosis solutions. If we’re promoting electronics, we need to find these big subjects, these larger-than-life issues that foundationally entice that motivation to resolve them, whilst pertaining to subjects that matter to the up and coming generation of thinkers, designers and engineers.
UKESF
www.ukesf.org / ELECTRONICS
Finding the foundations How essential is
education in Electronics?
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