It has become globally recognised that our universities must adapt to the world they live in. This is even more true in the era of digitisation and Industry 4.0 where Universities are under increased pressure to deliver Engineers of the Future to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet. Against this backdrop the Rethinking Education in Ireland (REEdI) project was founded.

Through the REEdI project, MTU has developed a innovate engineering qualification. This unique qualification sees industry and academia collaborate to deliver the Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, the first of its kind qualification in Ireland.

REEdI is a consortium of national and international HEI’s, industry stakeholders and world class research centres. Munster Technological University are the lead university of the REEdI project with University of Limerick, Harper Adams and Charles Sturt University as the academic partners. Charles Sturt are global leaders in the model of self-directed, project-centric learning with significant work placement. The Research Centre partners are, CONFIRM, LERO, IMAR and AgriTech Centre of Excellence (ACE). The project has been developed in collaboration with Industry Partners across a variety of sectors such as pharma, med tech, automotive, electronic, advanced manufacturing and agritech. According to Denis Collins, CEO, ActionZero industry, government and academia must collaborate efficiently to address climate change. "Initiatives like REEdI will develop the skills we need to make a tangible difference. We will also see relevant clusters & high-quality regional jobs from these collaborations."

Everything about this course is cutting edge, students will get to learn with immersive technologies such virtual and augmented reality. The 4 year degree programme will be equally divided between time spent in an academic setting and time spent in industry. It complements academic studies by providing another way of learning outside the lecture theatre during work placement in industry. The student engineer will spend the first two years on campus and the final two-years at a host industry partner such as Stryker, Analog Devices, ThermoFisher, Astellas, Johnson and Johnson amongst other, gaining the skill set and personal attributes an employer looks for in a graduate engineer. The three-way relationship between student, university and industry is core to the approach on which the programme is designed.

Not only have our Industry partners committed to providing students with two years paid placement, they have also collaborated in the design of the course. Industry partners participated in workshops and surveys, the output of which resulted in the collaborative development of the curriculum and work placement framework. Trevor Murphy, Senior Project Engineer, TriCel captures the benefits of the collaboration, "MTU’s REEDI programme is a massive evolutionary step forward in preparing engineers for industry and offers employers the chance to identify and assess students early on for potential graduate roles. Tricel welcomes this initiative and look forward to the first batch of MTU REEDI Engineers on site in Killarney."

EPS Group are also delighted to be a registered partner of the REEdI programme. "This wonderful initiative and cutting-edge approach to engineering education in Ireland is helping students access training in different ways which is one of the keys to ensuring diversity in the future of our workforce. We wish the very best to all the prospective students of the degree and look forward to welcoming the future Engineers to EPS in September 2024" said Joanne Tracey, HR Manager.

Engineering graduates of the programme will have the knowledge, experience and skillset to work across a diversity of sectors, to address the shortage of engineering talent and continuously improve and solve complex engineering problems.

Students interested in applying for this innovative programme should visit www.reedi.ie for more information.