Engineering management studies as part of continuing engineering education

Engineering management is an important area of undergraduate preparation. With the introduction of engineering and technology degrees via flexible delivery, there are a growing number of mature age engineering students returning to study to upgrade their qualifications. These students offer a new and unique perspective on engineering management - they may have had significant practical experience as a manager/supervisor in an engineering environment. This paper reports on a survey undertaken to better understand the perceptions of mature age engineering students relating to engineering management. The engineering management competencies identified as most important by mature age engineering students are those that are practically orientated, most clearly associated with engineering and generic professional skills. Management competencies identified as less important by mature age students are those that are more theoretical and most clearly associated with other business functions or professional occupations.

An impact study of the United Education Initiative Professional Development Programme

The implemented cirriculum of the UEI-PDP with regular follow-up and feedback enabled personal and professional growth of participants. This led to institutional capaciey building and transfer of learning into the classrooms. Collaboration, open communication, persistence and accountability facilitated the transfer of learning.

The effect of potential bias on the formation of ionic liquid generated surface films on Mg alloys

An electrochemical approach to the formation of a protective surface film on Mg alloys immersed in the ionic liquid (IL), trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium–bis 2,4,4-trimethylpentylphosphinate, was investigated in this work. Initially, cyclic voltammetry was used with the Mg alloy being cycled from OCP to more anodic potentials. EIS data indicate that, under these circumstances, an optimum level of protection was achieved at intermediate potentials (e.g., 0 or 0.25 V versus Ag/AgCl). In the second part of this paper, a small constant bias was applied to the Mg alloy immersed in the IL for extended periods using a novel cell design. This electrochemical cell allowed us to monitor in situ surface film formation on the metal surface as well as the subsequent corrosion behaviour of the metal in a corrosive medium. This apparatus was used to investigate the evolution of the surface film on an AZ31 magnesium alloy under a potential bias (between ±100 mV versus open circuit) applied for over 24 h, and the film evolution was monitored using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). A film resistance was determined from the EIS data and it was shown that this increased substantially during the first few hours (independent of the bias potential used) with a subsequent decrease upon longer exposure of the surface to the IL. Preliminary characterization of the film formed on the Mg alloy surface using ToF-SIMS indicates that a multilayer surface exists with a phosphorous rich outer layer and a native oxide/hydroxide film underlying this. The corrosion performance of a treated AZ31 specimen when exposed to 0.1 M NaCl aqueous solution showed considerable improvement, consistent with electrochemical data.

The importance of training and education for New Zealand entrepreneurs : some empirical evidence

Entrepreneurship date back thousands of years. Effective workforces require training and education. Entrepreneurs need a thorough training needs analysis before adapting training programmes. Training describes learning activities to improve entrepreneurs' knowledge, skills and abilities to perform and manage effectively. Education improves competency of entrepreneurs. Models are referred to in the literature review. Training and education needs were identified for entrepreneurs to maintain competitive advantage and profit margins. A study done in 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand found that training and education is necessary for entrepreneurs and employees; how they could gain greater efficiencies and increased profit through training of current employees.

A depth of data : research messages on the state of social work education in England

In the light of extensive media coverage of social work education, this article uses information from the Department of Health funded three-years multi-method evaluation of the social work degree qualification in England to discuss areas in which qualifying education might be improved. It argues that too great a concern with the 'A' level performance of social work applicants risks not paying enough attention to the non-academic qualities that they will need to work in the changing world of children's and adult services. Better partnership working between employers and universities will help students make the transition into the workplace. This includes greater opportunities for employers and practitioners to be involved in candidate selection and teaching on qualifying programmes.

Optimization-based formation of autonomous mobile robots

The formation of autonomous mobile robots to an arbitrary geometric pattern in a distributed fashion is a fundamental problem in formation control. This paper presents a new asynchronous, memoryless (oblivious) algorithm to the formation problem via distributed optimization techniques. The optimization minimizes an appropriately defined difference function between the current robot distribution and the target geometric pattern. The optimization processes are performed independently by individual robots in their local coordinate systems. A movement strategy derived from the results of the distributed optimizations guarantees that every movement makes the current robot configuration approaches the target geometric pattern until the final pattern is reached.

Internationalisation of Indonesian higher education : a study from the periphery

Globalisation as a global phenomenon has been influencing Indonesian Higher Education like other education systems in the world. Internationalisation in response to globalisation is a common feature in majority universities. It is also a feature of Indonesian Higher Education institutions, yet so far it seems that the way in which Indonesian higher education is responding to globalisation with internationalisation of its universities is not well reported.
This paper aims to address this gap by examining relevant government papers, policies, research, reports and other documents available on line as well as at web sites of universities and other related web sites depicting how internationalisation has been conducted in Indonesian higher education. The paper attempts to reveal the perceived challenges of globalisation for Indonesian higher education and to what extent and in what form internationalisation has been achieved. Particularly, it will analyse the relation between policies and practices and identify barriers to internationalisation. However, it should be noted that this article is selective rather than comprehensive in reflecting on the internationalisation process in Indonesian higher education.
Findings show that globalisation is perceived as a challenge requiring a response rather than as a threat to be dealt with. Many sources reflect that the government has been initiating and facilitating various programs to support internationalisation within the system. It appears that lack of capability at the institution level slows down the process. Under-representation of institutions reflected in the under-developed websites results in opacity of the real capacity of institutions. It seems that improving the basic factors shaping internationalisation such as capacities in English and ICT (Marginson, 2007) would trigger further the development of internationalisation in Indonesian higher education.