Engineering graduates for industry - Royal Academy of Engineering

Engineering graduates for industry
3.2. How do universities know what industry needs?
Consultation with industry and academia undertaken by this and previous studies has shown that there are a range of
communication channels that help to inform universities about the skills requirements for engineering graduates. The
universities participating in this study all believed that they were well informed about the needs of industry through a
range of formal to informal interactions and were working to embed this into the engineering curriculum. These include:
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Recruitment of staff into academia from
industry
Point to point contacts between academics
and engineers from industry at all levels,
including lunchtime conversations and
other informal links
Industrial advisory/liaison boards
Strategic partnerships, including research
and knowledge transfer partnerships
Employer links through careers services and
recruitment processes
Staff secondments to industry and visits by
academic staff to students on placement
Students reporting to their departments
following placements
Effective use of alumni through well
organised alumni organisations and inviting
recent graduates to give talks to students
Sector Skills Councils who provide
information about skills requirements and
bring industry together with academia
Reading reports and studies, both national
and regional.
The particular means of information exchange between industry and universities depends markedly upon the overall
balance of the mission of the university; but it is universally true that the communication must be up to date and
relevant.
The Royal Academy of Engineering 13