Manufacturing engineering education at the University of Cambridge: An illustrative case of long-cycle responses to contextual change

Abstract

Innovative learning methods have been designed, developed and evolved over sixty years of manufacturing engineering education at the University of Cambridge. The Institute for Manufacturing gives students the opportunity to become confident and effective engineers, in a discipline involving human, technical and commercial skills. Taking a pragmatic perspective this case illustration aims to show how the gap between industry need and educational practice can and has been bridged, and continues to evolve, in a student- and industry-focused manner, and in response to rapid technological change. Two roadmaps, of historical and planned future innovations, illustrate this ongoing