Educational model ‘Learn by doing’ in education to train future engineers

By : Franyi Sarmiento, Ph.D., Inspenet, July 15, 2022

In 2010, UNESCO warned about the shortage of engineers in the world. At the time, the organization said that young people consider these careers “boring and difficult.” Despite the fact that they are usually in the best paid areas, the lack of specialists is still a problem that companies can change from within.

Robyn Vincent, Head of Foreign Affairs and Development at the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, accepts that there is a shortage of engineers in the UK because young people don’t realize how exciting engineering can be. “They don’t have the right models to follow and they don’t realize that from this discipline they have the possibility of addressing global problems,” he mentions.

But the engineering shortage is a global issue. In a recent Statista survey, 64.46% of HR professionals stated that they were looking to hire up to 50 developers in 2022. Those who intended to hire more than 50 did not reach 15% and those who intended to hire more than 100 did not exceed 9%.

According to Vincent, the Dyson Institute was founded in 2017 to provide opportunities for young people while “learning by doing”, as the model is based on employing students to work on Dyson projects, combined with additional mentoring, while who dedicate two days a week to theoretical study.

During the first two years, students focus on areas such as Electronics, Software, and New Product Innovation. But in the third and fourth years they take a specialization in one of these sectors to work together with the global engineering team.

Classes are taught in study spaces located within the Dyson technology campus in Malmesbury, UK, right next to the company’s innovation labs, where they also do residencies and get all the facilities for their studies. Later, the students can enter to work at Dyson.

The specialist also points out that trusting young people implies promoting knowledge and innovation within the company, because they arrive with creative thinking to influence the engineers who perhaps saw the products from a single point of view.

This material from the Strategic Energy portal was edited for clarity, style and length.

Sources : https://expansion.mx/tecnologia/2022/07/13/escasez-ingenieros-la-solucion-de-instituto-dyson