ENGINITE project aims to develop an innovative vocational training programme which will use synchronous methods aiming to set a higher standard level for engineering training. ENGINITE focuses on the design, development and establishment of a new industrial-oriented postgraduate vocational training programme that aims to bridge the gap between academia and industry and is targeted for graduate and junior engineers by integrating 'theory' with 'practice' using the Problem Based Learning approach to teaching and learning. The ENGINITE training programme will last 6 months and will be divided into 2 parts: (A) Intensive training programme which is focused on employability enhancement, managerial skills and technical knowledge (3 months), (B) Structured internship for accelerating hands-on experiences in the industry (3 months). The main aim of ENGINITE is to develop a new way of engineering training which will be able to be adopted and may be copied by other educational organisations; to enhance the technical knowledge and the practical experience of graduates and junior engineers; to create a community and bring industries and engineers closer; to strength the recruitment potential of the participants and leverage the industry’s quest for high qualified engineers. Via ENGINITE, engineers will enhance their competences and gain real working experiences, while internship partners will meet and test the engineers’ strengths. The choice of the partners was made after careful consideration to ensure that the project would bring together the best possible expertise and knowledge on the topic at hand and would allow the development of realistic and valuable programme through relevant cross-national collaboration, knowledge inter-exchange, and complementaries amongst the group. The project partners include the following organisations: CUT, AAU, CUBEiE, LSBU, TUC, GrantXpert and Think Up. The consortium of partners is consisted by 7 organisations from 4 different countries (CY, UK, GR, DK) and with different expertise. Dr. Andri Ioannou from CUT in Cyprus will be the Project Coordinator of the project. A Project Management Team (PMT) will be responsible for the proper implementation of the project’s work. The cooperation and communication between project partners and other stakeholders will take place via a number of “spaces” (e.g. email exchange, skype video-conferences, project management online tool, and physical meetings). The project aims to deliver four key intellectual outputs: Comparative Needs Analysis Report (led by TUC), Handbook for PBL/VET Engineering Methodology (led by Think UP), Development of Educational Content and Relevant Guidebooks (led by CUBEiE), ENGINITE Online Training Platform (led by CUT). The methodology that will be used to deliver the intellectual outputs is broken down into a series of steps, involving the following key phases: Review of existing literature & programmes; Research amongst engineers and engineering companies; Analysis of primary data; Handbook for PBL/VET Engineering Methodology; Design of training programme plan; Design and Development of the ENGINITE Blended training programme (Online & face to face) and its guidebooks; Web platform to be used for online training, evaluation and dissemination. The key activities that the project will organise in the context of the execution of the project, include: Project Management, Research and Analysis, Planning and Programme Design, Pilot Testing and Evaluation, Dissemination and Quality assurance. The project is expected to have a positive impact on a number of stakeholders, including the project partner team members and their organisations, target groups and other organisations and groups, VET providers, companies in the field of engineering, technical chambers, body associations, associations of young engineers and other relevant stakeholders. A number of quantitative and qualitative indicators are set to assess whether and to what extent, the project reaches its objectives and results, including among others the numbers of participants and feedback in the context of research and pilot testing. The main target of the project sustainability activities is to continue with a wider implementation of the programme, after its initial pilot testing. Thus, wider dissemination activities can ideally take place that will allow targeting and encouraging larger numbers to attend the ENGINITE Training Programme.
BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT Current research on the engineering sector showed that different skills and competences such as problem-solving, creativity, innovative thinking, and practical experiences are essential and absolutely required for the Engineers of tomorrow. Unfortunately, this knowledge cannot be developed during the undergraduate’s studies of the Engineers using traditional didactical methods and without the connection with industry and the hands-on-experiences. Therefore, there is an immediate need to transform and reform the engineering education. OBJECTIVES ENGINITE aimed at supporting young engineers in acquiring key skills and competences, responding to the current needs of industry, via the use of Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach, as a powerful pedagogy. PARTICIPANTS As part of ENGINITE there were two main target groups involved in the project activities: •Graduate/Junior engineers: This target group included (a) Graduate Engineers who sought for a job and/or who wished to follow a post graduate/vocational training programme; (b) Junior Engineers who were partly-employed and/or working in a different field and wished to follow a post graduate/vocational training programme. •Industrial partners: The ENGINITE project was also addressed to Industrial Partners in the engineering sector. In particular this target group included: (a) Companies you sought for professional graduate/junior engineers for employment; (b) Companies which experienced lack of innovative ideas and sought for talented engineers who were able to provide solutions to existing problems and/or promote new ideas/products towards helping the companies to enhance their competitiveness and further grow. UNDERTAKEN ACTIVITIES The ENGINITE project developed a new industrial-oriented postgraduate vocational training programme which used synchronous methods to set a higher standard level for engineering training aiming to change the way in which engineers were trained and at the same time, industry and economy were benefited. The educational materials emerged during the ENGINITE project had the form of educational resources, under the licence of Creative Commons (.e. Handbook for PBL methodology, Guidebook for trainers, Guidebook for mentors), in order to be adaptable, accessible and widely available to all interested stakeholders. The ENGINITE training programme was delivered via a novel online training platform https://enginite.cyprusinteractionlab.com/learning-platform/ , which was developed for the purposes of the project. The ENGINITE training programme and its educational materials were also accompanied by evidence of its effectiveness through two main pilots at Cyprus and Greece. The project and its main outcomes were disseminated though multiple press releases and three newsletters (https://enginite.cyprusinteractionlab.com/news-events/). Finally, a Facebook page was also created (https://www.facebook.com/EnginiteErasmus/) to contribute to the ENGINITE project’s social media publicity. RESULTS & IMPACT ATTAINED Quantitative results: •39 graduate/junior engineers took part in the project and benefited from the ENGINITE training program at Cyprus and Greece •22 companies in Cyprus and Greece took part in the ENGINITE training programme and reinforces their staff with the trained young engineers •414 unique users visited the ENGINITE Online Training Platform and benefited from the available educational materials •202 interested stakeholders attended the ENGINITE multiplier events which took place at Greece and Cyprus •More than 450 interested stakeholders liked and followed the ENGINITE Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/EnginiteErasmus/) •More than 20000 relevant stakeholders were reached through the ENGINITE dissemination activities Qualitative results: •There was high interest of relevant stakeholders to join the ENGINITE online training platform. •There was a high level of satisfaction following the completion of the pilot training programme by all the participants •The ENGINITE training courses period was ranked highly by the trainees in Greece and in Cyprus •The participating young engineers developed their technical and entrepreneurial skills •The feedback received by the company supervisors about the trained young engineers was also relatively high LONG TERM BENEFITS & IMPACT After the end of EU funding, the partners will maintain a contact will all stakeholder who attended the multiplier events, participated in the training events and pilots, joined the ENGINITE online training platform, liked our social media channels etc. and use these contacts as liaisons to continue to promote the ENGINITE training programme. The ENGINITE Online Training Platform that was created is expected to continue functioning even after the project is finished by all interested stakeholders (e.g. Graduate/Junior engineers, Industrial partners/Engineering companies, Policy makers & governmental officials, Educators and trainers, Researchers and academics).