The University of Newcastle’s Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment has joined forces with Connell Wagner, one of Australasia’s largest engineering consulting practices, in a bid to address the current skill shortage in engineering
Formalisation of the partnership took place during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on February 23 designed to encourage collaborative research in the field of engineering.
Professor Vice-Chancellor from the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Professor Mark Jones, says the University of Newcastle is taking a leading role in addressing the skills shortage problem by forging valuable partnerships with industry.“Access to industry expertise offers our future engineers the opportunity to gain world class educational and industrial experience,” he says.
The MOU outlines how the partners will work together to facilitate the development and planning of the agreement.“We envisage that our collaboration with Connell Wagner could potentially involve reciprocal use of equipment and facilities, provision of lecturing, staff exchanges and the development of joint research projects,” says Professor Jones.
According to Tony Barry, NSW Regional Manager of Connell Wagner: “the demand for highly qualified engineers is rising. Connell Wagner sees the collaboration with the University of Newcastle as essential to meeting the future ongoing need for skilled engineers, within Australia and further afield.”
Source: Building Products News.