R W Brown, Senior Lecturer
Department of Communication and Electronic Engineering
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
J F Odgers, Senior Lecturer
Department of Marketing Logistics and Property
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
graduation. Traditional courses are changing in delivery method and content to meet this need. At the RMIT, a new course format, first introduced in 1993, is now in its third year of implementation. It is aimed at producing enterprising engineers who understand the intricate interplay of business and commercial factors with the technical design process, and who are keen and able to lead in commercial ventures centred on technical design. To this end, the major subject stream-Engineering Design and Innovation-of the four year courses in Electronic &Communication Engineering and Computer Systems Engineering, features integrated delivery of a range of topics including technical, business, personal and management skills, in the one lecture stream. This subject stream is based on a backbone of practical electronic project work by the students and lecture topics are delivered to support these projects. Reliability, quality, budgeting, costing, intellectual property protection, marketing, report writing, and project management are just some of the topics delivered in addition to core technical topics. As well as a technical project outcome for each semester-long project, the students must deliver a viable business plan for commercialising their product. Regular student surveys indicate, that because lecture material is delivered in context to the technical projects where it is used, students better appreciate the relevance of non-technical topics to engineering and become enthusiastic participants in the holistic design and commercialisation process. This paper describes the course development work already undertaken and the plans for completing this initiative.
The need to round out the education of engineers has long been recognised.
For the last 30 years at least, engineering students have been required to undertake non-technical electives in fields such as business, social science, arts, etc. More recently, RMIT engineering undergraduates in Communications, Electronics and Computer Systems, undertook specific subjects in accounting and economics along with technical subjects.
Yet employers and others [1] still complain that new engineers are naive and relatively unskilled in areas vital to commercial and organisational success. This perception is also reflected in typical job advertisements that specify a requirement for two or three year's experience.
Clearly, the traditional method of attaching service teaching of non-engineering skills, to a traditional engineering course, has not adequately broadened the skills of newly graduated engineers. Informal surveys carried out at RMIT, and anecdotal evidence, have revealed probable causes. Many students saw non-technical subjects as irrelevant and boring-to be passed and forgotten. They did not identify with the topics or appreciate their importance. In addition, the service lecturer often had no familiarity with engineering and worse, did not link the lecture material to a technological sphere familiar to the students. The application of the theory in an engineering context was thus left to the students. Since the concepts were often complex and challenging in themselves, the restructuring of the material into a form useful to engineers is often a formidable task. It is therefore unsurprising that the student understanding and employment of non-technical knowledge have been relatively poor.
The decade of the eighties was characterised by not only a fundamental change in the world of finance and free enterprise, but also by pivotal changes in the nature of employment and the way in which engineers are expected to operate.
``A new breed of engineer is expected by employers, one with concurrent engineering and design skills, with business nous, and a flair for communication and teamwork. The new graduate is expected to be creative and able to solve problems quickly and cheaply. Superb technical skills are taken as given. More is required.'' [2].
``High self-confidence, initiative, analytic ability, change orientation (challenging the status quo for example) and interpersonal skills are five basic competencies demanded by General Electric in all its employees. They must work with manufacturing ... they must be boundaryless.'' [3].
There are, however, other desirable outcomes associated with more enterprising new graduates. George H. Heilmeier [4] in his Professional Profile, makes the following pertinent point:
``Technically illiterate CEOs are seldom capable in the high technology world of business today ... of being strategic thinkers, able to identify the technologies that are key today and those that will be changing their business environment in the future.''
He asserts that Japanese companies have succeeded because they have consistently promoted managers who understand their business and technology, not because of industrial policy administered by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
Heilmeier observes that more than twice as many top Japanese companies have technically trained CEOs as do their US company counterparts. He hopes ``that enough American examples will accumulate to eventually debunk the notion promulgated at US business schools that a good manager can manage anything. Non technical managers will be replaced by knowledgeable leaders who can weigh technical options.''
Muspratt [5] concludes, the Japanese reason that it is easier for an engineer to pick up legal or business skills on the job than for an LLB or an MBA to so acquire technical skills.
Christianson [6] makes the point that is very obvious to those long involved in tertiary engineering education, that ``... today's incoming students do not have the hands-on hobby experience that help them sense what engineering is all about.''
The messages in all this are irresistible. There is an urgent need for the philosophy and method of delivery of engineering education to be changed to improve effectiveness and better meet the needs of the age, particularly concerning holistic practical skills. We must also produce engineers who have a flair for enterprise, are business wise, have excellent interpersonal skills and who can apply their superb technical and analytical skills to a broader stratum than pure technical design. We must make the acquisition of non-technical skills, a natural integrated part of the course so that students see it as relevant, rewarding and worthwhile. Inside these needs is a great opportunity. Why don't we train engineers to lead, manage and market, as well as to design and create? Why not give them training and practice toward becoming entrepreneurial employers as well as employees?
The major component of the new course is the Design and Innovation subject strand common to all courses run by the associated departments and extending through all four years. This practical hands-on project-based subject stream, accounts for more than 20%of all undergraduate course hours. It is structured so that the dominant technical themes are illuminated by project work which simultaneously and naturally involves the learning and use of business and personal skills.
Accounting and Economics studies previously taught as separate compartmentalised subjects, were eliminated.
Technical, business, and personal development topics are delivered just in time where possible, so that students use and practice the new topics immediately in a design enterprise context. This requires interspersion of technical, business and other lectures in the one subject lecture strand [7].
The exercises are carefully structured to expose students to a wide rang of experiences closely matching those that they would meet in the outside world. The exposure does not demand rigour, but appropriate levels of knowledge. Sometimes, the knowledge for progression of the projects is required before the delivery of the same material in parallel core subjects and some inter alia instruction must then be provided. Philosophically, rigour is initially subordinated to digestibility, interest and useability. The temptation to create pseudo-accountants or economists is strongly avoided. Depth and skill are obtained by revisiting the topics later or in the following years on an iterative basis [8]. Thus the nature of the lecture material is often quite different to that previously delivered in service subjects.
``You must work smarter'', ``you must be aware of the big picture'', ``you must be team oriented'', ``you must be enterprising'' ... on their own, are the marks of the scoundrel. The ``how'' is missing. We have expended much effort in not only defining critical topics, but delivering the ``how''-lectures with substance-and in maintaining strong support for the students as they progress through their projects.
The recursive learning methodology has been subsequently referred to by Cyganski, Nicoletti and Orr [9], as the spiral approach. Their paper coincidentally describes a process similar to what we have developed. Under this instructional method a broad range of topics is introduced in first year, not in great depth or with the customary mathematical rigour, but more as an introduction of the fundamental relationships between concepts and practical devices that make use of these concepts
Cyganski et al, also warn that ``a spiral treatment of such a broad palette of topics could have degenerated into a survey course ... An integrated theme and well-defined objective milestones were an essential component of our approach to fulfilling these seemingly contradictory goals.''
In parallel to the technical development, the students must consider business issues and at the end of first and second year, deliver a business plan for commercialising their technical product.
As well as this bound document, the student groups must also deliver a demonstration and a verbal presentation to their peers and mentors, on the technical and business outcomes of their project. This total exercise closely models enterprise development in industry, and gives the students' opportunities to practice and improve their personal presentation skills.
The projects start with highly structured straight-forward exercises in first year, and finish with largely open projects in third and fourth year. These later projects demand initiative, design skills, negotiation with customers and self-discipline in planning and meeting schedules and are relatively unchanged from pre-1993.
Freshman students acquire and construct a hobby kit of their choice to get them started along this path. This exercise is aimed at acquainting them with hardware and buying, and provides a learning vehicle that is interesting and instructive. In many cases this is the first time that the students have actually built anything electronic and the project reinforces earlier training in soldering, assembly skills, safety and component familiarity.
In the second semester of the freshman year, the students form teams of five, choose one of their kits, and develop a business plan for its commercialisation. This exercise is predicated on the assumption that it is a real-world situation where they, as nascent entrepreneurs, are indeed going to sell the kits and make money. In other words, it is not hypothetical. The students must consider whether to form a company, a partnership or act as sole traders, where to get finance, how to manufacture or obtain the kit, what niche market to attack, and how to manage the finances and operation.
In second year, the degree of competence is further increased with demanding technical and business exercises. In the first semester, the students work in groups of two, to construct a regulated power supply that is deliberately of a design to expose the students to thermal problems, noise, electronic control and stability issues, and selection of components. In addition, they use computer-aided printed circuit layout software, PROTEL (TM), and learn detailed printed circuit technology. A circuit design is supplied but the students have to calculate ripple currents and other parameters and select suitable filtering capacitors, heat-sinks and component values. The design must also tolerate 10%variation in mains voltage. The students must understand and be able to explain every aspect of the circuit at milestone presentations.
Our experience has been that many students far exceed minimum requirements in constructing the power supply and produce a complete mains-powered supply for their own future use. However, it should be kept in mind that the power supply project is only a vehicle to impart specific skills and knowledge-it is a means to an end.
In second semester, more open technical and commercial projects are undertaken by students formed into groups of four or five. These projects are not pre-designed, but broad characteristics are specified. The students are permitted to locate and use circuit design modules to realise their system but they must be able to explain the operation of their composite circuit during milestone presentations in the semester. Some part of the circuit must be modelled on a computer using SPICE. Typical of these projects are (a) a digital echo and reverberation unit, (b) an ultrasonic radar, (c) a fibre optic voice link, (d) an ultrasonic vehicle collision avoidance system, (e) an LED-sensor heart rate detector, and (f) a radio frequency voice link.
To promote originality, the projects are changed every year.
As in first year, a business plan must also be produced. This plan is more thorough and detailed than that of first year and milestone presentations must also be given.
Two, one hour lectures per week, support the project work in second year in a similar way to the method used in first year. Topics include: electro magnetic interference, commissioning and fault finding, mains power and safety, optoelectronics, reliability and quality concepts. Quality design methods and the reliability of hardware and software are also covered in some detail. Methods of signal conditioning, and for achieving design redundancy are developed together with relevant theory. Supporting lecture topics in business and other non technical areas are delivered in the Engineering Faculty, sometimes by engineering lecturers but mostly by the Marketing Logistics and Property staff member and sometimes by contracted lecturers. Financial terminology, depreciation, amortisation, pricing strategies, contracting, the use of shelf companies, spreadsheet financial functions and presentation skills are some of the topics covered.
Lecture topics, including business topics, were selected primarily by the engineering departments involved, through the agency of the Design and Innovation Co-ordinator(s)-a role especially created for the new enterprise endeavour. The topics were chosen to support the course objectives and meet the needs of the practical projects. Generating these lectures such that they underpin the projects within an engineering context, is a demanding task. It has required high levels of commitment to the new format and close interaction between all parties delivering in the team teaching mode. In all, six lecturers have been involved in delivery of material to the first and second year students who number more than 360 in all. It is the belief of the authors that topic delivery by business lecturers not completely involved in and strongly supportive of the new subject format, would be little more effective than the traditional service subject delivery in obtaining business enterprise education. The critical need for such close and continuing project support, not only in business issues, but in all relevant areas, should be clearly recognised.
Group exercises are heavily used in the new course. In the past, assessment of individuals operating in teams has proved to be difficult and it has been possible for passengers in groups to get good marks despite having contributed little to the team effort. The problem of individually involving students within each team, is succinctly summarised by Christianson [6], who draws attention to the failure to experience and learn by the less aggressive members of a team.
This undesirable outcome can also lead to resentment and poor team work amongst team members. Since 1991, a system called the Auto-Assessment System, has been in use at the RMIT, which not only efficiently derives individual marks from team marks, but enhances teamwork by devolving some power to the team to influence individual marks. This power gives the team the ability to impose discipline and to reward enterprising members. The system is described in another paper [10].
Over each year, individual assessment is made up of marks for individual work, marks obtained in teams and marks for examinations. Examinations constitute 50%of the assessment weighting.
Implementation is continuing into third year in 1995 and will be completed in fourth year in 1996. Similar themes to those in first and second year have been followed. Topics introduced earlier, are rounded out where necessary and substantial project work is continued. In third year, it is planned to anchor many of the business lectures to a commercial accounting package in widespread use in small businesses.
Other lecture topics include attainment of accreditation for products, statistical process control and design for manufacturing.
At first, the students responded negatively when informed in first year that business topics were to be included in the engineering design subject strand. However, when asked how many of them might eventually start their own business, around two thirds raised their hands. In a few seconds, the need for business skills was recognised. Since then, students doing the course have offered many positive messages. In the main, students have embraced the format with enthusiasm and hard work.
A typical reaction is articulated in a supplementary course review commissioned at the end of 1993 [11]. The team of reviewers, who had just completed the first year of the course, said of the first year design subject: ``The majority of students have been surprised to discover the relevance of the first year subject (CO100) to the engineering profession. The prospect of studying a business subject within an engineering course at first seemed irrelevant and out of place with the course ... students are now aware that Engineers are involved in all functional levels from product conceptualisation, design, manufacture, marketing and distributions, as well as in general management processes of private enterprise. ... All this new insight into the importance of business considerations to engineering decisions has dramatically altered students negative attitudes to business studies. ... RMIT's emphasis on CO100 is well understood and commended.''
There was also some criticism. The students reported that tutors, who have a critical role in the success of the course, were often not able to help them adequately in the business phases of project work. This inability is understandable as the tutors, mostly RMIT graduates, have had little exposure to such integrated material in the previous course structure. The broad weakness of tutors in the business area tends to imply that the learning of business skills through service subjects in the traditional course at RMIT, was less effective than the learning of technical skills.
Staff have also reported a symbiotic outcome between technical design and business [12]. The perception of staff is that the technical skill development has been enhanced by placing such project work firmly in a competitive engineering environment. In two other surveys conducted by RMIT's Professional Skills Training Unit at the end of 1994, both first and second year Design and Innovation subjects, rated very highly compared to other subjects, in the five categories measured. These categories were, the development of: the ability to solve problems and think logically, the ability to be creative and originate new ideas, the ability to communicate well, the ability to work effectively in teams, and the ability to draw on knowledge from different areas. It should be kept in mind however, that these criteria particularly favour a wide-ranging subject such as Engineering Design and Innovation.
A new course subject strand, centred on practical experiential project work, is proving to be an efficient way of obtaining a multitude of desired graduate skills in a way that enthuses and involves the students. The strategy of involving the students in a program aimed at equipping them with adequate skills and practice to run their own businesses, is a method of achieving almost incidentally, many other desirable outcomes.
Leadership, business acumen, ability to relate theory to practice, a strong awareness and ability to interact with other discipline areas, a team mentality and a pro-active mindset are major acquisitions along the way.
There are encouraging signs that the course delivery method involving the students in constant practice of integrated product and business development cycles closely matching those that occur in industry, is succeeding in the aim of imparting a competence in enterprise and the confidence and desire to participate in such activities in future.
The outcomes are expected to be new graduates well primed for leadership and enterprise, not only in technology, but in any area related to technology.