Developing engineering competence through the medium of syndicate studies

Engineering competence is a fusion of many skills and attributes. The authors advocate the superiority of the industrial situation as a tool for developing the competence of undergraduate engineers. An adaptable syndicate study framework is presented, which provides an arguably better education vehicle than conventional teaching and learning methods. The advantages and disadvantages are discussed along with implications concerning pressures on teaching staff. The operational details of the framework are shown in full together with a typical example of student work. Questions are posed concerning the further development of syndicate studies and the assessment of the studies involved