Blowing our own trumpet

The study considers the global state-of-the-art in undergraduate engineering education. It was undertaken to inform Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) New Engineering Education Transformation, an initiative aimed to develop ‘a world-leading program of undergraduate engineering education’ at the university.

The research was conducted between September 2016 and November 2017 and provided ‘a snapshot of the cutting edge of global engineering education and a horizon scan of how the state-of-the-art is likely to develop in the future’. The analysis drew on interviews with fifty global thought leaders in engineering education and identified the most highly-regarded current and emerging technical universities.

‘Can-do’ engineers’ mentality in Delft

So which institutions are considered to be the ‘current leaders’ in engineering education? MIT and Olin College of Engineering – also in Massachusetts – were both cited by the majority of interviewees. Other highly-rated universities were TU Delft, Stanford University, Aalborg University (Denmark), Singapore University of Technology and Design, University College London and Charles Stuart University (Australia). Many interviewees noted that the engineering education sector was entering a period of rapid change, and they therefore anticipated considerable movement in global leadership in the coming years.

The factors that led to TU Delft being named include: the innovative degree programmes in Industrial Design Engineering and Aerospace Engineering; the fact that TU Delft was quick to offer open and online education; the ambitious successful student projects such as the Nuna solar-powered car and the Human Power Team bike; and, the decision to invest in the teaching skills of the lecturers. The interviewees also recognised a ‘can-do’ engineers’ mentality in Delft.