Project Information:
Identifier: 2017-1-CY01-KA202-026728
Start date: Nov 1, 2017
End date: Oct 31, 2019
EC Contribution: 219655 EUR
Priorities: Labour market issues incl. career guidance / youth unemployment; Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses
Partnership
- TECHNOLOGIKO PANEPISTIMIO KYPROU
- AALBORG UNIVERSITET
- POLYTECHNEIO KRITIS
- CUBEIE L.L.C.
- GRANTXPERT CONSULTING LIMITED
- Useful Simple Projects Limited (Think Up)
Publication:
Ourania Miliou, Andri Ioannou, Yiannis Georgiou, Ioannis Vyrides, Nikos Xekoukoulotakis, Søren Willert, Andreas Andreou, Panayiotis Andreou, Konstantinos Komnitsas, Panayiotis Zaphiris and Stylianos Yiatros
Overview of ENGINITE
The postgraduate vocational training programme was based on Problem Based Learning (PBL) pedagogy and combined advanced applied academic topics with hands-on aspects, to endorse the needs of graduate engineers, preparing them for the industry of the 21st century. Upon the completion of the ENGINITE training programme, the young engineers gained practical knowledge and experience which is expected to boost significantly their employability skills:
— The programme facilitates the acquirement of the desired capabilities of engineers in a short amount of time
— ENGINITE brings expertise from the “northern” countries which are considered as more successful into Engineering education compared to Balkan and Mediterranean regions.
ENGINITE developed a top-notch training programme with a vision to bridge the gap between industry and academia helping to develop more market-ready young engineers. The training program includes 8 modules, delivered in the following sequential order:
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- A1 Engineering Systems Thinking: Re-engineering by Simplifying
- A2 Project Management in Action
- A3 Innovation, Entrepreneurial and Intrapreneurial skills
- A4 Applied Efficient Quality and Health & Safety Management Systems
- B1 Engineering Logistics and Supply Chain Analysis in practice
- B2 Engineering economics
- B3 Applied Process and Production Optimization
- B4 Product development. From concept to market
Via ENGINITE, engineers enhanced their competences and gain real working experiences, while internship partners will meet and test the engineers’ strengths.
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Testimonials
We feel so happy that our pilot participants have gained so much through our innovative programme! Let’s hear what our participants have to say about his experience with the internship phase of the #ENGINITE innovative programme.
“The experience I have gained is very constructive and meets my expectations as a mechanical engineer. The company has helped me develop practical knowledge through the various projects and tasks assigned to me. Also basic skills that I have developed through work are “problem-solving” and “teamwork” where they have been achieved through the various challenges and cooperation of the staff. Finally I want to thank the Enginite program that has given me the opportunity to gain similar experience on the subject I have studied by collecting useful knowledge for my future career.”
Timotheos Krokos
Trainee
“My placement during the 2nd phase of the program was made in a medical waste management company, related to my specialty, Environmental Engineer. From the beginning, I chose to participate in this training program with the main goal of participating in the internship because I consider it very important the opportunity to work in an industry / company in which you will face the real problems and challenges of your profession. At the same time, it is an opportunity to network and get in touch with people who are related to your business. I believe that the 2nd phase of the program and the internship helped me to develop skills such as adaptability and critical thinking in order to solve real-time problems and requirements. In addition, I was given the opportunity to take on responsibilities and initiatives for the completion of the company’s Environmental Management System as well as to be thoroughly trained in medical waste management as well as in measures to prevent and address health and safety issues. The work environment was perfect and the experience will definitely be part of my resume”
Koulla Pazourou
Trainee
“Through my internship, I was given the opportunity to get involved in designing and setting up a pilot waste treatment plant. The skills I acquired during the 1st phase of the #ENGINITE program, which focus on problem solving in a limited time, and organization and critical thinking, helped me a lot to cope with the tasks I undertook during my internship. I think that the program has prepared me significantly so that I can cope with real problems of the industry (real-life projects).”
Panayiota Karanikola
Trainee
“I have to admit that I feel lucky to be a member of the company that practices my practice, as well as the opportunity I have been given to gain work experience through the European #ENGINITE program. As a trainee I understood that team spirit, common goals , organization, proper time management and mutual understanding are essential elements for a department to work harmoniously. Finally, I would like to emphasize that the second phase of the program successfully meets my expectations as in a short time I have received knowledge and experience in how a heavy industry works and how it solves the various environmental issues that arise every day.”
Maria Tzoka
Trainee
“My internship is the best continuation of the first phase of the #ENGINITE program, as it offers me experience and knowledge in various fields of engineering, but also provides me with the opportunity to develop skills such as the ability to work effectively and communicate in a team environment. Some of the areas in which I have been involved in the company are the precision control of various instruments such as scales and thermometers as well as inspections of various machines and instruments for their proper operation according to European and other standards. that I had from the program.”
Charis Achilleos
Trainee
“Participating in the ENGINITE internship provided me the opportunity to develop both at a professional as well as at individual level. As an intern, your thoughts and contributions are valued at a daily basis, as you work alongside respectful and experienced researchers and industrial experts. The mission of the ENGINITE project was inspiring and useful for anyone interested in acquiring hard and soft skills, an extended professional network and a great life experience. ENGINITE has been an excellent internship for me and, as such I highly recommend the ENGINITE to all the young engineers.”
Constantinos Souroulas
Trainee
“ENGINITE is an ambitious project which introduces the PBL approach to young engineers with different scientific backgrounds. It has definitely improved their problem-solving skills and employability prospects and I hope that they will remember this experience for several years.”
Konstantinos Komnitsas
Trainer
“Overall, the experience I had from the program was far beyond my expectations. At first, I was very sceptical, and I had some serious concerns about the implementation of the program. However, with the collaboration of all the stakeholders and the participants, the program has been successfully and smoothly implemented. In my opinion, the program was successful and covered the needs of both the participants and the trainers.”
Nikos Xekoukoulotakis
Trainer
“ENGINITE, is the most experiential and compact training programme for young engineers to date, which prepares them for the industry real-time! It covers a blend of engineering & business industry topics and gives them the opportunity to build invaluable soft skills. Additionally, young engineers get to practice their learnings and solve real industry problems through placements in relevant and high-performing organisations. The programme lies its principles in PBL learning, which makes it even more innovative, market-relevant and appealing. The international market is hungry for adaptive and practical skills, and ENGINITE hits right on spot!”
Christina Achilleos
Trainer
“ENGINITE training program is a great opportunity for every young graduate in order to be trained to use the knowledge that they already have, to cultivate new skills that let them identify what they need to learn or develop in order to solve/propose solutions to any problem that might arise during their professional journey.”
Elpida Georgiou
Trainer
“ENGINITE is a training program, which can help to minimize the gap that exists between the university and the industry. During the project, the young engineers had the opportunity to experience real-world problems and through the PBL approach, after researching and combining their skills and knowledge, they were able to recommend solutions, which were good enough and applicable to authentic scenarios. “
Maria Andronikou
Trainer
Collaborating companies
The ENGINITE consortium would like to thank wholeheartedly all the collaborating companies for their valuable support and participation in the ENGINITE structured internships
Pedagogy
A: What is Problem Based Learning (PBL) – (I) The original variety
-PBL was pioneered in the medical school program at McMaster University in Hamilton , Ontario, Canada in the late 1960s by Harold Barrows and his colleagues
-Important stimulus for inventing PBL was students’ complaints concerning the study program’s amount of fatiguing, de-motivating rote learning
-Barrows defines the Problem-Based Learning Model as: Student Centered Learning
-Learning is done in Small Student Groups, ideally 6-10 people
-Facilitators or Tutors guide the students rather than teach
-A Problem forms the basis for the organized focus of the group, and stimulates learning
-The problem is a vehicle for the development of problem solving skills. It stimulates the cognitive process.
-New knowledge is obtained through Self-Directed Learning (SDL).B: What is PBL? – (II) The original variety
According to the original variety the teaching-learning process goes like this
-Learners are presented with a problem and through discussion within their group, activate their prior knowledge.
-Within their group, they develop possible theories or hypotheses to explain the problem. Together they identify learning issues to be researched. They construct a shared primary model to explain the problem at hand. Facilitators provide scaffold, which is a frame work on which students can construct knowledge relating to the problem.
-After the initial team work, students work independently in self directed study to research the identified issues.
-The students re-group to discuss their findings and refine their initial explanations based on what they learnedC: What is PBL? –The Aalborg variety
Value-based pedagogical platform
-Emphasizes learning instead of traditional teaching and lecturing
-Learning is an active process of investigation and creation, driven by the student’s curiosity and experiences
-The students are inspired to participate in the discovery of problems and the creation of new knowledge (in relation to future work situations)
-The students are expected to learn to think critically and analytically
Operational principles and goals
-Problem Guided Learning based on theoretical as well as real-life problems,
-Problems are defined by students: personally – and professionally – motivated problem solving
-The principle of exemplarity – rather than representativity: depth of learning in favour of breadth of learning
-The students learn to do research
Project Organisation as imitation of ‘normal’ everyday life and work situations:
”..the way in which learning took place before the event of class room and curricula” (Boud and Felettti, 1991)
Project work is supported by lecture coursesPresentation by Professor Emeritus Søren Willert (AAU)
Presentation by Dr. Andri Ioannou (CUT)
