CSU Named One of Top Emerging Engineering Schools in the World

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology names Charles Sturt University as one of the top 4 emerging engineering schools in the world.
• CSU ‘completely rethinking what engineering education should look like’.
• CSU will be a benchmark for how MIT supports its own program of reform in undergraduate engineering.
• Others universities in the emerging field: University College London, Singapore University of Technology and Design and University of Technology Delft.

A report commissioned by global leader in engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has named Charles Sturt University (CSU) as one of the top four emerging engineering courses in the world and has described the CSU degree as ‘completely rethinking what engineering educating should look like’.

The recognition of CSU Engineering is the result of a benchmarking study of global state-of-the-art undergraduate engineering courses to support the MIT program of reform in undergraduate engineering education.

The MIT commissioned report, canvassed opinions from a wide range of international experts, and CSU was chosen among a small group of universities as an emerging leader in engineering education which puts Charles Sturt University’s new engineering program alongside renowned engineering education names; University College London (UCL) Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and University of Technology Delft (TU Delft).

CSU Vice-Chancellor Professsor Andrew Vann said being able to influence global practice in engineering education demonstrates that innovation is alive and well in regional Australia.

We knew as the 37th engineering school in Australia we had to offer something unique and radically different to producing entrepreneurial engineers.... graduates with technical excellence wrapped in communication, financial and management intelligence.produce ‘entrepreneurial engineers’ with technical experience tackling authentic engineering problems right across the nation. To be identified by MIT as an engineering degree of the future and a global leader in engineering education is a major coup for Charles Sturt University.  It gives us the confidence to keep pushing the boundaries to meet the changing expectations and needs of students, employers and society into the future.

Professor Vann, Vice-Chancellor, Charles Sturt University

The report describes CSU Engineering as creating a ‘new chapter in engineering education’ by offering a radically different approach to undergraduate engineering education that focuses on human-centred engineering and diverse opportunities for students to explore authentic problems using state-of-the-art technology.

Foundation Professor of Engineering Euan Lindsay said for this model to work the degree had to be something completely out of the box.

Our program allows opportunities for students to explore and apply engineering learning through authentic problems through four year-long paid placements in the workforce. This is a program that trains student engineers not engineering students. The difference is when our students go out into work placement after only 18 months on campus, we are told they are acting like the graduates from other more traditional engineering degrees. The way we treat the student engineers as professionals in training is a cultural shift for university education and a defining feature of CSU Engineering.

Professor Euan Lindsay,  Charles Sturt University