AEngD publishes its Dowling Review submission
(23 April 2015) - In early March 2015, the Association of Engineering Doctorates (AEngD) submitted a response to the Royal Academy of Engineering's Dowling Review into collaboration between industry and academia.
The AEngD highlighted noted in its introduction that EngD research engineers, alumni and – importantly in the context of this review – industry sponsors are associate members. As a community engaged in research in engineering and related disciplines, the AEngD aims clearly state the need for collaboration with businesses in industry, including:
- promote acceptance and recognition of Engineering Doctorate (EngD) degrees within host institutions and industry
- develop wider and more strategic industrial research collaboration
- develop and promote taught programmes tailored to students’ (or Research Engineers, REs) and industry needs
It repeated its April 2014 representations to the Minister for Universities and Science highlighting the unique nature of the EngD qualification:
"The EngD constitutes a form of academia-industry collaboration, which not only generates new knowledge but also enhances knowledge exchange between industry/ business and academia. EngD programmes enhance human capital development by producing people with skills, including leadership, management, as well as technical skills - focused on the needs of industry."
The AEngD welcomed the Dowling Review’s exploration of collaboration between business and the UK research sector, stating:
"Our collective experience of delivering high value collaborative research across a wide range of industrial sectors means that we are well placed to contribute to this important initiative. While the following comments are confined to the field of doctoral research, they are a cumulative product of many hundreds of intensive professional relationships between academics, businesses, and the Research Engineers who deliver research outcomes with both intellectual and industrial / economic impact.
"The AEngD's core views regarding the Government's Industrial Strategy are, first, that there is a numerically far greater need for EngDs in industry than the need for PhDs to support academia, and, second, that EngDs deliver value to industry more quickly – vital if the UK is to achieve its competitive aims."
The full AEngD response can be downloaded here (PDF will open in new tab/window).
