Young engineers need more practical experience, says Lord Browne

Outgoing president of the Royal Academy of Engineering says undergraduates must 'learn by doing'

Universities run the risk of producing engineers that cannot solve real-life problems if hands-on training is scrapped during times of austerity, Lord Browne, the outgoing president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, has claimed.

Browne said that analysis from the academy suggested that much more of an engineer's education needed to be done practically. He said: “The ability to think strategically cannot be learnt from a book; it has to be developed through practical experience.

“It can only be achieved through 'learning by doing': getting students to work on real engineering problems and properly consider the consequences of their approach.”

One way of achieving this, he said, was to get engineering students involved on projects such as the constructionarium - a construction teaching site in Norfolk. Activities at the site include building a scaled-down replica of London's iconic Gherkin building to get students to apply their knowledge and learn from their mistakes.

But Browne warned that such activities came at a high price and could be threatened by academic budget cuts. “Practical education like this is expensive, but the benefits to young engineers are very valuable,” he said.

Problem solving in multidisciplinary teams should also be incorporated into undergraduate engineering courses, according to Lord Browne, as real-world engineering challenges do not fit into boxes neatly labelled civil, mechanical or electrical.

Lord Browne added: “Like family doctors, who understand and treat a whole variety of aliments in all parts of the body, engineers should know how to integrate all the pieces of a problem.”

Students at an increasing number of universities have expert engineers as guest lecturers to guide them through practical activities. Supplied by the academy's Visiting Professor programme, these experts enrich the undergraduate curriculum with their experience of engineering problems. “Feedback suggests that they are making a real difference,” said Lord Browne.

The process of learning by doing fosters students' ability to innovate, another skill vital to success in engineering. Discussing case studies can also help students develop problem-solving skills, he said.

Browne steps down from his role as president of the Academy on 11 August. He is being succeeded by Sir John Parker, chairman of National Grid.