Cork Institute of Technology’s (CIT) reputation for excellence in ensuring STEM graduates emerge industry-prepared and equipped, with the required technical and non-technical skills to facilitate employment directly from college, has received a boost with the publication of an innovative paper by the Department of Process, Energy and Transport Engineering, in collaboration with AnSEO, the CIT Student Engagement office, it has been announced.

In this innovative paper, which is entitled Developing engineering competencies in industry for chemical engineering undergraduates through the integration of professional work placement and engineering research project, CIT academic staff detail the development, and implementation, of a systematic approach to the delivery of the Engineering Research Project module and the Professional Work Placement module for chemical engineering undergraduates over a two-year period.

The novel aspect of this work lies in the simultaneous delivery of the Professional Work Placement module and the Engineering Research Project module to enhance experiential learning while the current practice in other academic institutions is to deliver these in isolation.

In 1979, CIT was the first third-level institute to deliver chemical engineering in the south of Ireland in response to the economic demand in the regional area at the time (Fine Chemical, Food and Beverage, Oil and Gas and Pharmaceuticals).

Continued expansion

Today, as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors continue to expand and currently contribute in excess of 58% of national goods focus, CIT’s chemical engineering academic staff remain career focused in their education of students and committed to the development of competent, career orientated, chemical engineers.

Over the past 10 years, in line with industry requirements, CIT has incorporated more bioengineering based modules such as Bioprocess Engineering Principles, Biopharmaceutical Engineering and Bioreactor Design to match the national skill shortage in the fast-growing biopharmaceutical sector.

It is readily recognised that most higher education institutes regard work placements as a key contributor to the employability of their graduates.

With more employers requiring experience as well as academic success, work placement is a highly valued component of the CIT student experience and is considered an essential element in the professional development of students through the refinement of their skills in a real-world context.

Over the years, CIT has solidified industrial partnerships by developing a pipeline of graduates with key engineering competencies, required deep skills and the interdependence of all stakeholders with the benefit to industry being a structured longer placement (in line with international policy) that develops 'culturally fit' graduates. CIT’s industrial modules particularly support soft (deep) and technical skills required for industry.

The college’s ongoing commitment to student development means that each year approximately 2000 CIT students, from a broad range of disciplines, are placed in organisations across Munster and beyond.

Vast industrial knowledge

CIT’s ability to spearhead innovation in experiential learning has been greatly enhanced by the vast industrial knowledge prevalent among its current chemical engineering academic staff, 80% of whom worked previously in industry as chemical engineers in leading global organisations such as GSK, IFI, Henkel, Intel, Jacobs Engineering, PM Group, Eli Lilly, Astellas, BioMarin, Pfizer, ALTANA Pharma, Gilead Sciences, Helsinn, Dow Corning and EnBio.

With such a large percentage of industrially  experienced  staff,  the  application of engineering principles to industrial scenarios underpins the teaching within the department and facilitates ease of transition to industry for undergraduates, thus enabling students to effectively integrate  with  their  industrial  mentors  and  colleagues  and  obtain  a higher level of rich engineering experience.

The paper, which was produced by CIT academic staff, Dr Sandra Lenihan, Dr Roisin Foley, William Carey and Noel Duffy, is available here. For further information on studying Chemical and Biopharmaceutical Engineering at CIT, check out the CIT website.