Quest for all-round engineers
by Jon Brooks
An innovative orientation program at UniSA’s Mawson Lakes campus is helping to engineer better graduates.
The orientation program, known as Quest for Engineering Discipline (QED), was introduced this year to compliment the compulsory common first year that all new engineering students must undertake as of semester one last year.
Associate Professor Mahfuz Aziz, Academic Director of first year engineering, said the QED Program is loosely modelled on TV programs like The Amazing Race and challenges students to work as a team and explore the campus in order to complete a range of tasks. At the same time, it introduces students to the five pillars of university life - learning, colleagues, the campus, the school and its people, and career opportunities.
"Engineering is not an insular career, when you’re in the work environment you have to work alongside people from many other disciplines," he said.
"The common first year gives students a much better understanding of the broader principles of engineering and they’ll have much broader experiences when they graduate and enter the workplace.
"QED is essentially the beginning of these students’ careers as engineers, and helps instil them with the notion of team work and a better understanding of the relationship between engineers of various disciplines."
He said while the QED only takes place over three days, it has a long-lasting impact on how students will approach their studies and professional lives well beyond their time at the university.
During the program, students were divided into teams and given a number of tasks, including building an online team portfolio and attempting to master a car-driving simulation. They were also mentored by senior engineering students to help build their networks within the university and gain an insight into later study.
First year student Timothy Tregeagle, who is studying a Bachelor of Electrical and Mechatronic Engineering said the QED program was an excellent introduction to university life.
"I guess for a lot of people going to university can be pretty daunting, and the QED program is a good way to meet your fellow students and get an appreciation for university life," Tregeagle said.
First year mechanical engineering and management student Maddie Gibbons agreed, saying the program took much of the stress out of the transition to university life.
"I really enjoyed it. Getting to experience the various engineering disciplines gives you a much better appreciation for the work that engineers do, and doing it in such a fun way is a great start to uni life."