How well do communications, electronics, electrical, computer, software, automotive, mechanical. genetic, production, mass transport, aeronautical, civil and chemical engineering degrees (etc) equip today's graduates (2010 to 2014) for taking up a non-managerial, technical or design job in research and development (R&D) or Production Engineering in the manufacturing, pharma, petro-chemical, food processing, and construction industries?

When I was a 'student apprentice' with GEC-Marconi, we were put onto a four year, 2:1:1 'thick sandwich course' at Loughborough, Aston or Brunel Universities, but the whole of the third year (some 13 months in reality) was spent working and training in an R&D laboratory environment, and every available holiday period was spent back in training, initially and then latterly, actually working as a junior engineer, back in Essex in one of the many GEC-Marconi divisions. Thus, when we graduated with our Bachelor of Technology Honours Degrees, we already had the equivalent of nearly 18 months industrial training and working experience. Other graduates with say, just a 3 year Physics Degree were 'all at sea' and struggling technically for the first year or so of their post graduation employment and so we 'young technologists' were tasked with 'helping them get up to speed' as part of our initial deployment!

Does the quality, relevance and depth of training given to today's Engineering Graduates, whilst at University for 3 or 4 years actually enable them to 'hit the ground running' {after completing the short few weeks of 'in-house' familiarisatio/induction training period) immediately after graduation or do they require a significant amount of directed objective training before thay can 'stand on their own two feet' without the need for supervision and technical guidance from senior engineering staff (or from some other external training provider) ?

Edited by Firmbutfair on 07/07/2014 at 18:36