Deakin redesigns future of engineering in Australia inside brand new centre Tuesday, 24 November 2015

Image by Simon Fox, Deakin University

Sponsored editorial piece written by Deakin University, Principal Partner of Engineers Australia, Victoria Division.

The southern hemisphere’s first immersive virtual reality lab that lets users feel as well as see is the jewel in a brand new $55 million state-of-the-art engineering education and industry innovation centre officially opened recently in Geelong.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander welcomed the Federal Education Minister, the Honourable Senator Simon Birmingham, Federal Member for Corangamite Sarah Henderson MP, and many industry representatives to the Centre for Advanced Design Engineering Training (CADET) at the Waurn Ponds campus.

The lab, which allows users to step inside and move within a virtual 3D world enhanced by haptics and surrounded by four projection-based screens, is the cornerstone of a new, Australian-first, approach to teaching engineering.

Professor den Hollander said Deakin’s redesign of engineering education matched the focus of the Federal Government’s Industry, Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda, and would lead Australia’s next generation of engineers into the unknown jobs of the future with confidence and the relevant skills for a 21st century world.

“Because of our new approach, and the world-leading technology inside CADET, our students will be solving real-world problems in partnership with industry from the very beginning of their degrees,” Professor den Hollander said.

“Australia has been staring down the barrel of complex challenges within manufacturing for several years now, firstly as the decline of the automotive industry gathered pace, and now as the economy feels the pinch from a reliance on the weakening resources and commodities sectors.

“Unless we are bold, and unless we have vision beyond today, we cannot hope to prosper into the future when it comes to manufacturing. We are grateful for the Federal Government’s recognition of our vision and positive direction through its $22 million contribution to CADET.

“Thanks to Deakin’s new centre, which is based on several overseas models, but is a first for Australia, students can enter university knowing that when they graduate they will be prepared to solve real-world problems.

“This means that for the first time, students will be able to learn how to engineer solutions to problems in a hands-on workplace environment, rather than the traditional passive theory-based model of learning inside a static lecture theatre.

“We have rebuilt our engineering degree to drive a new type of manufacturing view; one built on design and advanced manufacturing that will deliver highly sought after products.”