Initiative Lead
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology

Primary Contact
John Hanahoe
john.hanahoe@gmit.ie

€20000

Enhancement in Collaboration with Professional Bodies and/or Industry Partners, Teaching and Learning within and across Disciplines

The registered professional title of Chartered Engineer (CEng) is becoming very important for graduate civil engineers. The increasing regulation of the construction industry and the requirement to have competent engineering professionals (i.e. Chartered Engineers) to sign off on construction and civil engineering projects has led to employers seeking graduates who can quickly reach CEng status.

Graduates from existing 4-year level 8 degrees in the IoT/TU sector do not (typically) meet all the educational requirements (learning outcomes) for the direct pathway to Engineers Ireland’s Chartered Engineer status. These graduates must currently follow a much longer experiential route.

This T&L initiative seeks to develop and pilot a 1-year Higher Diploma where students will be facilitated to fill the gap in their learning by undertaking bespoke structured tasks/roles as part of their normal workday. The tasks/roles will be agreed between the student, GMIT and the employer. It is envisaged that this workplace-based learning will take a minimum of one academic year.

The students will be required to provide evidence that they have achieved the necessary learning by a variety of means such as logbooks, written reports, presentations and interviews. This evidence will be assessed by GMIT and a Higher Diploma (or similar academic designation) awarded as appropriate.

Engineers Ireland have agreed to take an integral role and to assist in identifying any changes required during this pilot.

If successful, this initiative will provide a template for other engineering programmes across the third level THEA sector nationally.