The role of 'hands-on' practice in aerospace engineering education

This paper describes the role of hands-on practice in aerospace engineering education at The University of Adelaide. Experience shows that the final year design and build projects, a component of final year undergraduate engineering studies, are conducted very successfully and are aligned extremely well with the aerospace engineering curriculum. Five honors projects recently completed at the University of Adelaide are described in detail, highlighting the positive contributions made to the education experience. The projects were of a ‘design and build’ nature, and utilized hands-on realization and practical student involvement. The engagement of the students through hands-on practice constituted the main aspect of the all projects. Each project had a timeframe of less than 10 months, in which the students were required to undertake and successfully coordinate the fundamental tasks of a ‘real world’ engineering task, namely market evaluation, revenue raising, project management, design, manufacturing, testing and evaluation. Analogous to real World tasks, the projects were designed such that the students would be exposed to real World resource and time constraints. The undertaking of these projects has demonstrated their capabilities and benefits in educating aerospace engineering.Maziar Arjomandi, Brad A. Gibson, Aliya Valiyff, and Benjamin J. Chartier and Dorothy Missingha

Using the Honours Project course to enhance engagement across all stakeholders

Prior to 2009 students in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Adelaide developed their management and professional practice skills in an unpopular stand-alone course “Engineering Management and Professional Practice (EMPP)”. The intended learning outcomes of this course were, however, synergistic with those of the final year “Honours Project” and so the two courses were strategically combined. This amalgamation (which is still referred to as the “Honours Project”) has developed into a successful scaffolded, authentic, engineering problem based learning course that: motivates and engages over 200 participating students; effectively outreaches to both primary and secondary schools; attracts vibrant and enthusiastic industry interaction; draws significant news and media coverage as the University showcases and creates a nexus between the research and the professional communities. It represents the coordinated sustained efforts by a team of over 50 academic and professional staff within the School of Mechanical Engineering, the Faculty of Engineering Computer and Mathematical Sciences and the University administrative services; which include the Media and Strategic Communications office, and the offices of the Vice Chancellor (VC) and the Deputy Vice Chancellor- Academic (DVCA). This paper discusses the background and evolution of the integrated Honours Project (Mech. Eng. 4143). Importantly, responses of key stakeholders, to the course work and outcomes are examined. These stakeholders include current students, industry, community members and academics. Suggestions for continued evolution and improvements will also be discussed.Zebb Prime, Will Robertson, Ben Cazzolato, Dorothy Missingham, & Colin Kestel

Political Economy of Southeast Asian Borderlands: Migration, Environment, and Developing Country Firms

Borderland zones in Southeast Asia have become sites of increased economic investment for developing country firms, intra-regional and transnational corporations. As a result of deregulation, these investment opportunities have led to the exploitation of natural and human resources in an unsustainable and unjust way. This article argues that the flows of people and natural resources across borders are connected intimately and that this has been facilitated politically by the acceptance of the porosity of territorial boundaries by all governments in the region and the imperative to export environmentally degrading development projects into neighbouring countries where political mobilisation on environmental issues is much less effective. Conveyed through a series of cases studies (on resource extraction, dam and reservoir construction, and working conditions in apparel companies), this article explores how developing country companies comply with the codes of conduct on corporate responsibility on human rights, labour standards and environmental sustainability) within the context of the governance of the global supply chain

Grassrooting network imaginaries: relationality, power, and mutual solidarity in global justice networks

In this paper we draw critically upon actor network theory (ANT) in order to analyse the contours of relationality, communication, and operational logic within a global justice networkö People's Global Action Asia. Drawing upon the concept of translation, we consider how connections are fostered and sustained within the network, focusing upon the work of key organisers (those we term the `imagineers') and key events in producing the network. In so doing, we ground ANT in direct political engagement and introduce the concept of `grassrooting vectors' to highlight the power relations at work within global justice networks, a consideration which is crucial to the formation of mutual solidarity between social movements