School is over, your university stint is well underway and you are looking into the great unknown that is going to be your chosen career. As a young engineer, you may be feeling a little bit anxious about how you are going to bridge the gap between university and the “real world”.
What skill will be essential to your success in the industry, and where do you need to focus your efforts? These questions may seem a little overwhelming right now, which is why the Young Engineers Development Programme (YEDP) was created.
Young Engineers Development Programme
The idea of this programme was to equip young engineers with the skills needed to be able to face real-world problems. Bridging the gap between university and the working environment is something that is not considered in many industries, and it can leave new graduates with little to no practical experience as they start their careers.
The YEDP is 18-months where these young engineers can get a taste of what is to come. The programme is a great blend of classroom and online learning, as well as mentorship under qualified engineers where they can learn:
- Real-world problem-solving skills
- Improve emotional intelligence
- Conflict resolution
- Leaderships
- Project Management
- Supply chain
- Production
- Finance
These are some of the skills that will become essential to them in the world of engineering. They will also have the normal assignments and case studies that go with any university course, but the beauty of the programme is they can use their newly acquired skills for any projects.
Engineer Shortage
The YEDP is helping address the shortage of skilled young engineers in the industry. It also helps direct them to areas that they would like to specialise or work in, rather than just throwing them into the deep end of the engineering industry.
Growing Young Engineers
Exposing young engineers to the amazing technologies that they can hope to work with in the future is a sure-fire way to ignite their love of the industry. It allows for the next generation of engineers to be encouraged and taught, passing on existing knowledge and skills and insuring these are not lost along the way.
