Practical Engineering Education Conference Update

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Way back in December 2020, we posted the idea of hosting the first ever conference dedicated to Practical Engineering Education.  Since then, the idea has been gaining interest and we have been working away to try and organise the event. Covid restrictions allowing, we are really looking forward to welcoming academics and thinkers who are passionate about laboratory based teaching to Sheffield to share their thoughts with the community. 

TecQuipment, the leading provider of high quality educational equipment for engineering disciplines, is an official conference sponsor. The company’s laboratory products are used by students and educators across the world, in over 1500 establishments in more than 100 countries. 


The products allow students and educators to perform practical experiments to illustrate engineering principles relating to aerodynamics, control engineering, process control, hydraulics and fluid mechanics, material testing and properties, structures, renewable energies, mechanics and dynamics, thermodynamics and heat transfer, along with electrical power systems.

We thank them for supporting our efforts.

We have received an overwhelming number of abstract submissions from a host of different institutions. While the titles are still TBC, the presenters and their affiliations can be seen in our programme.  We have received significant interest in the theme of delivering labs remotely, so we have dedicated the first day, 16th September, to this topic.  The second day, 17 September, will focus on the broader learning and teaching that happens in the lab.

We are also delighted to announce that we have 4 keynote speakers. 

Jonathan Seville is the Academic Director of the Collaborative Teaching Laboratory at the University of Birmingham, where he was formerly head of Chemical Engineering (1998-2008). In his keynote address, Johnathan will be discussing a collaborative approach to practical engineering education delivered by a single team of technical staff.

Stephen Beck is the head of department of Multidisciplinary Engineering Education at the University of Sheffield. This department delivers the practical engineering teaching for the Faculty of Engineering in The Diamond building. In his keynote address, Stephen will describe the process of instigating a new paradigm for educating engineers that has transformed student experiences. Having led the only department in the country dedicated to the practical elements of the education of engineers, he will discuss the obvious and more esoteric advantages and problems of taking a systems approach to this vital element in the creation of engineering graduates. 

Nigel Francis is a senior lecturer at Cardiff University and David Smith is a National Teaching Fellow, teaching Molecular Bioscience and Biochemistry. They are the founders of #DryLabsRealScience, a collaborative network for educators to share innovative practice to supplement and enhance lab-based teaching. In their keynote address, Nigel and David will talk about enhancing the student learning experience in remote lab teaching and the rationale underpinning different approaches.

Tickets are now available from our website, where further details of the event can be found.