Flying high

Report: Ryan Pedler
Photography: Melissa Di Ciero

Monash University is equipping engineering students to be the next generation of high flyers through a new leadership program that broadens the traditional skills base of engineers.

It comes as Engineering, one of the oldest Monash faculties, attracts strong demand from students.

Jenna Valkenburg

Jenna Valkenburg is one of a new generation of ambitious young Monash students determined to change the face of the engineering industry.

Jenna is in the second year of an Aerospace Engineering/Law double degree and is one of more than 60 high-achieving students, one third of them women, participating in the second year of the Leadership in a Technological Environment Program.

Now in her second year, Jenna said the program was equipping students with the skills to make their mark on Australia's engineering industry.

"There's a perception that engineers are great at maths and science but that some can't communicate for the life of them," Jenna said.

"We are going to try to change that, be a new generation of engineers, be good at communicating and more extroverted."

At the beginning of the three-year leadership program students' strengths and weaknesses are identified, helping them to develop self awareness and their individual leadership style.

The program also encourages a range of skills like critical thinking, problem solving, communication, sustainability, ethics, innovation, entrepreneurship, globalisation and change management. Students also get the opportunity to shadow and work with professional engineers in their workplace.

Gary Codner, Associate Dean (Teaching) in the Faculty of Engineering, said the leadership program had been applauded by industry executives because it was helping to produce adaptable, innovative, responsible and flexible graduates.

"To be a great engineering leader you need not only the technical skills, but also to possess vision, exceptional communication and project management skills, and the ability to manage and inspire people," Associate Professor Codner said.

"We're providing our students with these skills and industry contacts and an understanding of what's required to be successful in their chosen field."

The leadership program is currently offered to the highest-achieving Year 12 students entering the faculty, who also receive a scholarship worth $6000 per year for the duration of their studies. Entry to the leadership program is also available through application at the end of the first year of study. The faculty plans to expand the program into a broader one and offer it to all Monash engineering students.

Dean of Engineering Professor Tam Sridhar said the program was one factor that had helped make Monash engineering courses the best in Australia and attract the brightest students.

The study score required to study engineering at Monash in 2008 was 91.3, more than five points above any other engineering course in Victoria, and the highest ever cut-off.

There is also an increased range of double degrees on offer. Students can combine an engineering degree with degrees across the Faculties of Art and Design, Science, Arts, Law, Pharmacy, Business and Economics, and Medicine.

This extra choice has helped Monash boost its intake of female students to 20 per cent of total engineering numbers, challenging the traditional stereotype of engineering as a male-dominated field.

The engineering faculty also awards at least ten $2000 bursaries each year to highachieving female students as part of its drive to attract more women. It hosts lunches for female students and seminars featuring female engineering role models.

A new program starting this year will see Monash engineering students in Victoria work on projects with their counterparts at the Sunway campus in Malaysia to give them a taste of the globalised work environment.

Professor Sridhar said it was all part of a plan to ensure Monash graduates were equipped with the technical and non-technical skills they needed to be the next generation of engineering leaders.

"These skills are why industry values Monash engineering students so highly," he said.

Visit the Faculty of Engineering website.