Educating engineers for Europe

Abstract

Countries surrounding the Mediterranean sea enjoy a climate which enables them to obtain significant revenue from their entertainment/leisure enterprises. Commerce and industry involved in such enterprises are increasingly making use of the advances in electrical, electronic and computer engineering and the requirements for engineering education must reflect emerging technologies. Engineering education has seen an explosion in the so called media technology, this often being at the expense of engineering principles. This paper considers the need to develop programmes of study which retain engineering principles and provides an applications bias towards emerging technologies. The skills obtained from this type of programme provide opportunities world-wide and the potential creative, as well as problem solving aspects, provides a high degree of job satisfaction. For example, a degree in Music Technology and Audio System Design offers advanced signal processing techniques which are taught alongside subjects such as studio engineering and acoustics. The delivery of such engineering principles is enhanced by the context in which they are explored. Subjects such as Digital Signal Processing can be brought to life in the context of audio applications, providing a useful vehicle for students to learn an advanced engineering topic and to acquire marketable skills. This is in stark contrast to a traditional approach provided by many engineering degree programmes, where a highly analytical and abstract treatment of signal processing principles is given, doing little to fire the imagination and enthusiasm of students.