The University of Bristol and the University of Bath have collaborated to win a £3.4 million EPSRC Collaborative Training award to establish an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) Centre for The Management of Systems for Enhanced Performance, based at the University of Bristol.
The industry-driven Centre is set to create enormous opportunities for innovation and industrial growth in the UK whilst strengthening the technological base in many sectors.
Working under the influence of both leading academics and industrial supervisors on real projects of concern to industry, the EngD programme will recruit research engineers already working as experts in their field.
Director of the Centre, Professor Patrick Godfrey said: “It is exciting to see the potential of bringing together excellent research capabilities with real industry needs.
"The Centre will be uniquely placed to crystallise this opportunity by shaping the research, education and training for a new generation of engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs who have a much broader view of the world.”
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) will be supporting the Centre through the University of Bristol Collaborative Training Account. Both universities will be providing hard and soft systems teaching and research, and the University of Bath, through the School of Management, will be providing the management studies input to the programme.
Professor Glynis Breakwell, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bath, said: “The Centre's approach to systems engineering is uniquely stakeholder driven and encourages engineers to ‘do it differently’.
"This exciting collaboration will offer a new perspective to holistic thinking in producing system engineering solutions."
A systems engineering problem could be as large as an airport or as small as a microchip. It is this breadth that makes this topic so challenging. Take for example the construction of a new international airport. Apart from providing a runway and a check-in desk, there are a huge number of systems that must operate together smoothly and efficiently to provide stakeholders such as passengers with a safe and enjoyable experience and airline companies with the greatest value for money. All of this forms part of the modern engineering equation that is systems engineering.
Professor Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bristol, commented: “The EngD programme will develop industry leaders of tomorrow, equipping them not only with technical engineering skills, but also with the personal and professional skills to be effective leaders.”
The Centre will begin operating from the start of the 2006 academic year and already places are being reserved by industry. Candidates for the Centre will either be existing company employees looking to further their career or talented graduates looking to pursue a career in engineering.