Through PRIMED, your organisation can connect directly with students. Based on the level of engagement you would like to have, you can either engage on campus, or in your offices or sites.
You may like to simply come to campus and share your work and experiences with a group of students, or you may prefer to take students on a field trip or allow them to ‘shadow’ one of your practicing engineers for the day.
Explore the options below, or contact us if you have other ideas.
On campus activities
A teaching activity could involve a presentation to students on a topic area of interest, case study analysis, or project with emphasis on the technical area of the unit. Most teaching rooms having data projectors and whiteboards. PowerPoint slides can be used with the option of providing reading material or hand-outs electronically through our online Learning and Teaching platform.
Example:
- 40-minute PowerPoint followed by 10-minute guided discussion or
- 2x40 minute followed by discussion.
On-campus interaction with student groups in workshops (classroom setting), labs (laboratory or workshop setting), or tutorials (classroom setting). Be part of the learning process, assist and advise students on concepts, techniques, problem-solving approaches, and safety-related issues. No pre-prepared materials required, but props and examples of plans, drawings, or tools would be welcome.
Labs involve application of knowledge. Examples of equipment used in various labs include computers and engineering software, circuit boards, oscilloscopes, power system simulators, hydraulic flumes, and robots. The University of Tasmania would provide materials for lab work and tutorials.
Example:
- Two or three-hour session interacting with students and lecturer.
A particular topic could be discussed with the students, such as ethical/sustainable considerations of a project. Another example could be aspirational speeches speaking about an individual’s career or on projects worked on.
Example:
- 30-40 minute presentation using PowerPoint or other visual platforms with 10-minute Q&A.
You can present students with a case study of an activity, event or a problem containing real situations including the complexities that would be encountered in the workplace. Students can use theories and/or concepts learned to have open discussions about the issues at hand and what solutions could be delivered to help solve the problem.
Example:
- 15-20 minute presentation followed by 30-minute exercise/groupwork.
This can involve sharing stories about any experience(s) encountered during a project within your organisation. For example, students can hear from industry about the benefits of working in the engineering field through sharing of experiences. The session can take the form of a ‘roundtable’ or ‘fireside chat’, facilitated by one of our staff or by another representative from industry.
Example:
- 30-minute facilitated storytelling session, followed by 20-minute Q&A, and/or sharing reflections.
Your organisation can set a project for a final year engineering student to work on over a two semesters period. Input is required at several times during the year, such as meetings, data sharing and an academic staff member will assist in supervising the student.
Example:
- Upfront meeting to discuss the project with the supervisor and academic staff member (in January for the 1st semester start or June for the 2nd semester start)
- Followed by approximately one-hour monthly meetings, plus reading, reviewing the project plan and draft reports, and attending the student presentation.
- Total commitment of up to 12 hours during the year.
Your organisation can present a project to students set by the industry person in charge. Students can help produce design solutions as an output and industry would be able to assess the outcomes produced by students.
Example:
- Upfront provision of two-page project outline
- Followed by one-hour monthly meetings, plus reading, reviewing, and marking of final report
- Total commitment of up to 12 hours during the year
Off-campus activities
Students will visit an off-campus location and be provided with a tour or hands-on activity. Your organisation will host the visit (5 to 80 students). The University of Tasmania would provide transportation. These activities will focus on site safety, demonstrating the engineering process, outcome of engineering design, and problems and solutions that arise in the field.
Example:
- Host a visit or tour of site or facilities, for example a construction site or guided tour of a dam and hydro power plant
- 5 to 80 students
- one-hour to full day
Students could be invited to join industry-based workshops and/or social events to encourage networking skills and engagement with practicing engineers.
Example:
- Competitions, roundtables, speeches, seminars, lunch events, idea-generating events, or any other interactive forum
- 5 to 50 students
- one-hour to full day
Your organisation could host students to walk through your office space to catch a glimpse of how the working environment might look like for a practicing engineering. You would introduce students to engineers, chat about what they are working on, possibly have morning/afternoon tea or lunch together, and possibly include a presentation about a current project or plan.
Example:
- 2 - 10 students visit your office
- one-hour to ½ day
Students can have the opportunity to shadow an engineer to observe the working practice of engineering. One or two students will join an engineer and may attend meetings, observe testing, solve problems, review plans and drawings.
Example:
- 2-4 students come to your site for half-day/full day to follow 1-2 designated professionals in their daily activities.
Students would join your organisation as visitors to complete an engineering-related task over a period of one-two days. The work would be unpaid and have no material value to your organisation. Tasks could include data entry, mapping, helping surveyors in the field, laying out safety markers, organising documents, running tests, taking samples, creating simple programs, drawings, or sketches.
Example:
- 1-5 students attend your site to complete a set task.
- You design the task, provide guidance, and assess the outcome.
- The work should be helpful, but not critical, to your process.
If your organisation is working on a project that involves group thinking to solve a challenging problem, students can be part of the discussions to contribute to solutions. Alternatively, this could also be presented in a case study format where students can attend a meeting or discussion taking place to help contribute to solutions.
Example:
- 1-5 students attend your site to participate in a brainstorming session or working group.
- One to four hours, no formal preparation.
If you have a unique design problem or just want to get some fresh thinking into your latest project, a group of students will be deployed to your site to contribute. A ½-day or one-day design sprint event would be one option, where students would be provided with a problem description, be given some constraints, and expected outcomes, and then they would have to produce a solution or outcome in the given time.
Example:
- 10-30 students, possibly in groups, will visit your site to work on a short design problem.
- You can provide the challenge and the guidance.
- It is preferable to offer this during semester breaks.