Engineering Problem Solving

50% DROPOUT RATE on Engineering programmes...

16% GRADUATION RATE...

not only in South Africa!

One of the key challenges in engineering education is the gap between the curriculum and the actual world of work. If the primary role of engineering professionals is to solve problems so as to contribute to progress and enhanced quality of life, then we need a far better understanding of this complex process.

• How do they solve problems in increasingly dynamic fields?
• What forms of knowledge do they use?
• How do they move between these different forms of knowledge in a single 'micro' problem-solving moment?

The aim of the research (both PhD and Post-Doctoral projects) is to get a better understanding of engineering problem-solving practices in the real world, in the 21st century. It is only when we understand this that we can hope to redesign the curriculum to more adequately prepare our graduates for industry (if this is the explicit intention of the qualification). And I believe our graduates and industry practitioners can help us achieve this understanding...