Prospects Postgrad UK 2007/2008 - (Page 54) 54 SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING www.prospects.ac.uk/PostgradUK SPONSORED BY IMAGES: THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM MADE IN THE UK WHY INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE MAKING THE MOST OF POSTGRADUATE STUDY IN MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING. Downsizing, outsourcing, value engineering - recent changes in the make-up and operation of industry has spawned a new vocabulary. But it’s not one that is relevant to all sectors or all countries. Take the automotive industry in India for example. On the subject of manufacturing cars for the world’s second most populous country, you are far more likely to hear phrases like growth potential, strategic expansion and drivers for investment (no pun intended). The Indian government predict that by 2016 the number of employees in the country’s automotive industry will have grown from an already-vast 10 million to an almost-unimaginable 25 million, making it worth $145billion a year. Now that is growth. A POST-INDUSTRIAL NATION But post-industrial nations like the UK have an important role to play in such remarkable stories of the global economy. That is why hundreds of international students come to Britain each year to take up postgraduate courses in manufacturing and engineering. Dr Richard Cobb is Course Director for a number of such opportunities at the University of Nottingham, like the MSc in Manufacturing Engineering and Management. ‘We have many international postgraduate students, some sponsored by organisations in their own country,’ he notes. ‘They come to gain new knowledge and learn about new applications and equipment. And they return home and get jobs as production engineers, quality engineers, management consultants - the range of opportunities is excellent.’ The School of Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering at Nottingham is a leading department in this field and like others it has seen some dramatic changes recently. As well as traditional disciplines, it now also teaches operational management, virtual reality, bioengineering and human factors (also known as ergonomics). ‘There’s a lot of interdisciplinary work going on,’ Dr Cobb enthuses. ‘It’s an exciting area of study at the moment because of the amount of research that’s opening up.’ And the MSc in Manufacturing Engineering and Management run in partnership with the Nottingham Business School is by far the most popular course offered with 45 to 50 students each year. INVESTING IN THE FUTURE Hand-in-hand with these developments, Nottingham has invested in the technology needed to support its students. ‘We have a new centre for customised assembly looking at micro-machining and micro-assembly systems,’ Dr Cobb notes. ‘We have a water jet technology centre which cost just over £1million. And we also have simulation systems for the human factors students.’ But as Dr Cobb is keen to emphasise, this investment is not just for research. It is to help develop practical applications to real-world problems in both manufacturing http://www.prospects.ac.uk/PostgradUK
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