A new robotics degree: the Plymouth experience

Undergraduate engineering courses in the UK remain predominantly traditional. Changes in the industrial base coupled with new technology has created a strategic need for multiskilled engineering graduates. Existing courses tend to reflect the age when a degree was seen as the end of formal education rather than the start of professional development. There is widespread agreement that a first degree in engineering should often be of a more general nature with specialisation deferred to a masters course targeted at the area of interest. The University of Plymouth BSc in Robotics and Automated Systems is an example of a new type of undergraduate engineering course, designed by practitioners to be both industrially relevant and at the same time attractive to students. Initial student reaction has been very favourable. Recruitment has reached expected targets. An application for IEE accreditation is in the pipeline. Whether this is a course ahead of its time or in the vanguard of a range of innovative, successful engineering courses, e.g. electronics and music technology, which will change the public perception of engineering education remains to be seen. What is clear is that unless there is a significant increase in the number of graduate engineers UK plc will continue to fall behind its major industrial competitors in the availability of trained manpower. No effort should be spared to prevent this happening