The Engineering Academics Network Annual Congress is the flagship event of the EPC each year and in 2023, our theme is ‘New Models’. We will be exploring some of the disruptive challenges and innovative approaches in Engineering higher education relating to everything from student pathways into, through and beyond Engineering degrees to how we support our staff to support them. Here is a rundown of our five panel sessions.
New models in recruitment: pathways into Engineering
Tuesday June 13th@ 10:15
Bringing together experts across a range of pathways into Engineering, this panel will discuss entry channels into Engineering higher education that might offer better routes for more diverse students. Think design and technology, T levels, Engineering apprenticeships, RPL and new models of recruitment. They will tell us why and how they’ve broken the mould of entry qualifications, while highlighting what Engineering academics need to know to support their recruitment and their students.
• Prof Kay Bond, Academic Director, TEDI-London
• Dr Steve Bullock (Chair), Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol
• Phil Holton, Senior Qualification Manager, Pearson UK
• Dr Anne Nortcliffe, Head of School of Engineering, Technology and Design, Canterbury Christ Church University
• Monica Sounderraj, Warwick Manufacturing Group
• Lily Raynor-Blundell, Head of Faculty – Engineering, Automotive and Motorsport, Wiltshire College and University Centre
New models in assessment
Tuesday June 13th@ 13:45
Change has long been overdue in many of our models of assessment, but then along came ChatGPT and the need for an overhaul has become critical. Our expert panel will outline the challenges and opportunities surrounding assessment: Are exams still a viable approach? How can we better assess teams? Is there a role for peer assessment? For orals and vivas? For project work? What difference will AI make? Through learner analytics might it usher in a new age of fairer more sophisticated assessment? What can we learn from assessment in other disciplines like Medicine?
• Prof Mike Bramhall (Chair), Professorial Teaching Fellow, The Engineering and Design Institute (TEDI-London)
• Rod Bristow, Visiting Professor, UCL Institute of Education and Former Chief Executive Officer, Pearson UK
• Rink Desai, Assistant Professor: Manufacturing Management & Quality/Process Optimisation, Warwick Manufacturing Group
• Dr Sue Moron-Garcia, Educational Developer, Oxford Brookes University
• Prof Phil Newton, Director of Learning and Teaching, Swansea University Medical School
New models in employability
Tuesday June 13th@ 14:30
Employment outcomes for engineering graduates are strong, but even so, employers complain that students aren’t job-ready. Meanwhile Industry 4.0 and the pace of technological change are likely to mean that the skills that make a student employable today may be obsolete in just a few years. Our expert panel will consider what lifelong employability looks like and how can we better embed its teaching into Engineering degrees. In particular, we will explore how best to level the employment gap between those from affluent and disadvantaged backgrounds.
• Rory Adams, Mathworks
• Nick Bent, Chief Executive Officer, upReach
• Stuart Norton, Senior Consultant (Education), Advance HE
• Johny Rich (Chair), Chief Executive, Engineering Professors’ Council
• Prof Lisa Taylor, Professor of Employability and Learning Innovation, University of East Anglia
New models of delivery
Wednesday June 14th@ 10:00
As student numbers have risen, higher education become ever more diverse, catering to a wider ranges of students and modes of study. Circumstances such as the pandemic have driven online and hybrid models. Meanwhile Government policy and skills shortages have created a market for new models of delivery. As the forefront of this innovation, NMITE, the hosts of the EAN Congress, have forged a new offer to potential Engineering students. In this panel session, their experience will be contrasted with other institutions that are breaking the mould through remote learning, microcredentials, modular, stackable courses, earn-while-you-learn models and much more.
• Matheus de Andrade, Assistant Professor (Teaching), University College London
• Prof Bev Gibbs, Chief Academic Officer, New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMITE)
• Dr Annabel Kiernan, Pro Vice Chancellor Academic, Staffordshire University
• Carl Lygo, Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer, Arden University
• Rajay Naik, Chief Executive Officer, Skilled Education
New models of academic employment and progression
Wednesday June 14th@ 10:45
Strikes, casual and precarious contracts, REF-driven advancement models: the life of a working academic has become filled with insecurity and box-ticking. What do we need to do to make academia an attractive and fulfilling profession for academics while meeting the needs of students, universities and skills needs? Do we need more casual contacts or fewer? Our expert panel will discuss academic employment and progression. Expect fluid discussion with plenty of audience participation.
• Prof Dave Allan (Chair), Founding Faculty Professor of Engineering Education & Head of Programme Development, NMITE
• Ian Dunn, Provost, Coventry University
• Dr Rob Deaves, Senior Principal Engineer, Dyson and Visiting Professor, Imperial College London
• Dr Ruth Graham, Higher Education Consultant, R H Graham Consulting
With discounted member tickets, and an even bigger EPC subsidy for early career staff and staff from the hosting university, the professional development on offer is a steal. Where else can you get so much for so little?
Bookings are now being taken for EAN Annual Congress. Tickets and further information here.
