Engage Conference
15 Jan 2008
Higher Education and the Workplace
Supporting employer engagement in engineering and physical science
Tuesday 15th January 2008
Venue
Broadway House Conference Centre (EEF),Westminster,London
Cost
£120
Summary
The morning session will provide a provocative overview of the various drivers for employer engagement within
higher education,having a specific focus on engineering and physical science.This will involve presentations by
high-profile speakers providing perspectives from industry, higher education, funding councils and professional
bodies. In the afternoon there will be parallel sessions that provide an opportunity for research and exemplary
activities to be reviewed and discussed.Finally,there will be an opportunity to discuss the ways forward.This
will involve an interactive approach that will be continued beyond the conference.
Intended audience
Strategic-level academics in engineering and physical sciences; Sector Skills Councils; representatives from
industry - large and SME; and professional bodies.
Intended outcomes
Delegates should have a clearer understanding of what their next step should be in widening participation in
higher education through employer engagement and the development of work-based learning.
Background
This conference is the culmination of an Employer Engagement Project,‘Engage’,funded by the Higher Education
Academy, that has sought to facilitate dialogue between employers and academics and to develop an
understanding of the higher level skills agenda relating to engineering,physical sciences and materials.The
project has been examining the implications of the Leitch Review of Skills (2006) that emphasised the need to
increase the number of employees attaining higher level skills and recommended that a proportion of HE
funding be delivered through demand-led mechanisms. If you are interested in finding out more about the
Awards and previous winners.
Partners: Cogent, ECUK, EEF, Energy & Utility Skills, engCETL, Engineering Subject Centre, Engineering Professors' Council,
Loughborough University Careers Centre, New Engineering Foundation, Physical Sciences Centre, SEMTA, UK Centre for
Materials Education, Unilever.
Higher Education and the Workplace
Supporting employer engagement in engineering and physical science
Draft programme
Morning session: Raising the employer engagement issues that impinge on engineering and science.
Chaired by Prof. Freda Tallantyre
10.00am Registration - Tea/Coffee
10.30am Welcome
Martin Temple (EEF, Director General)
10.40am KEYNOTE Sir David Melville
(Chair, Lifelong Learning UK)
11.10am HE funding agency perspective from HEFCE
11.30am Industry perspective
11.50am Professional Bodies’ perspective
Richard Shearman (Engineering Council UK)
12.10pm Student perspective
12.30pm Lunch
Afternoon session 1: Engineering and Science employer engagement activities: examples of current practice.
1.30 - 2.10pm Parallel discussionSession 1A
Work-based learning processes.
sessions:
Session 1B
Ways into and around the funding
and accreditation issues.
Session 1C
How the processes
can be managed?
Leads: Prof. Sa’ad Medhat (NEF);
John Holton (COGENT)
2.15 - 2.55pm Parallel discussion
Session 1D
Building partnerships and
case studies.
Leads: David Hellier (EU Skills);
John Dickens, Loughborough University
sessions:
Session 1E
Workforce development.
Leads: John Wilcox (UKCME);
Paul Chin (Physical Sciences SC)
Session 1F
Gateway to the professions.
Leads: Richard Newman (EngCETL);
Malcolm Carr-West (EngSC)
Leads: Prof. David Young (Derby);
Judy Saxton (Ufi/LearnDirect)
Lead: Jonathan Ling
Afternoon session 2: Engineering and Science employer engagement activities: the next steps.
3.00 - 3.15pm Tea/coffee
3.15pm Panel discussion to review the longer term roles for the HEA subject centres and the future
involvement of the Sector Skills Councils, employers, academia and professional bodies.
Chair: Prof. Freda Tallantyre
3.45pm Distillation of key themes to carry forward. Prof. Freda Tallantyre
4.00pm Close
http://www.engsc.ac.uk/nef/events/engage-conference.asp
There is a charge of £120 for this conference. Please register online by 7th January 2008.