Prospects for Professional Engineering Education in the Asia-Pacific Region : A Historical Case Study of the University of Tasmania

This book examines professional engineering education in the Asia-Pacific region in the context of the history of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tasmania. It chronicles the development of professional engineering education at the University of Tasmania following the establishment of schools/faculties of engineering in Australia and New Zealand in the late 1890’s. For its 100th anniversary celebration, former graduates of the university were invited to contribute a written or oral ‘pitch’ on their experience as undergraduates and their subsequent careers a engineers, managers, and leaders. Their stories, reproduced in this book, show a deep appreciation of their time as students. Their careers are a testament to their training. 

In the second decade of the 21st century, the style of learning and teaching at universities changed dramatically. First, there was the change to student-centered teaching, then followed the move to online delivery which was consolidated through COVID-19. Constructive alignment followed with delivered material aligned to Intended Learning Outcomes, assessment tasks and Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies for Professional Engineers. Post COVID-19, there has been a slow return to face-to-face teaching. This is a particular challenge for engineering students because of the need for ‘hands on’ experience in laboratories. This book examines the challenges in training engineers for the future and considers the future of professional engineering education.