Teaching Engineering Design 1840s – Present

ABSTRACT: This paper examines how Irish engineering education has changed since the time of the founding of the first Irish university engineering schools in the 1840s. The paper focuses on the early curricula and methods of... [ view full abstract ]

ABSTRACT: This paper examines how Irish engineering education has changed since the time of the founding of the first Irish university engineering schools in the 1840s. The paper focuses on the early curricula and methods of instruction before comparing them with current engineering programmes and the programme outputs required by Engineers Ireland.

The paper identifies the material that was taught in the first Irish university engineering courses and details the texts that were available to these early students. The Trinity College Dublin 1843 final year examination in practical engineering is presented in an appendix to the paper and it and other examination papers are analysed to identify the knowledge that was considered necessary for civil engineering students. The Boyne Viaduct is mentioned briefly because this project involved some of the first Irish civil engineering professors and the first graduates from an Irish engineering programme.

The paper also considers the accreditation requirements that engineering programmes must achieve today and considers whether the core components of an engineering education have changed. Finally, the paper looks at how project work and case-based studies have been constant elements in fostering engineering design skills and briefly considers modern developments in teaching engineering design

KEYWORDS: CERI 2016; Engineering Teaching and Learning; History of Engineering Education.