More than academic interest
Engineering
Industrial and manufacturing engineering is extremely important to Malta's economic growth for a number of reasons. First of all, a substantial part of our GDP still comes from the manufacturing sector. As clearly stated in the EuroChambres Report for 2007, although the Maltese economy is considered to be leaning more towards the services sector, a strong presence of high-end manufacturing concerns continue to generate investment, employment and R&D opportunities for the country. Moreover, this report clearly states that manufacturing continues to be Malta's principal foreign currency earner.
In addition, many Maltese service industries such as shipping agencies, building service providers, transportation services, raw material suppliers etc. have a substantial portion of their work related to the manufacturing sector. This relationship between services and industry is also acknowledged by the EU Commission which in its study on its vision for manufacturing in 2020 clearly states that "An economy based on service industries alone will not survive in the longer term. As each job in manufacturing is linked to two jobs in services, the reliance on services cannot continue in the long term without a competitive EU manufacturing sector".
The Maltese government is aware that manufacturing is very important to Malta as reflected in both Malta's research and innovation policy and Malta's industrial policy. In December 2006, the Prime Minister explicitly stated that the manufacturing industry in Malta has paramount strategic and economic importance. We were indeed pleased that a number of local stakeholders namely Federation of Industry, the Malta Council for Science and Technology and Malta Enterprise joined forces with the university's Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (DiME) to organise a national conference entitled The Future of Manufacturing in European Malta, that was opened and addressed by the Prime Minister. The numerous participants were also addressed by EU Commission personnel who clearly stated that for the EU, manufacturing is indeed very important.
All this clearly shows that industrial and manufacturing engineering is very relevant to Malta. Suffice to mention that we are increasingly seeing high-added value manufacturing and industrial operations taking place in Malta including pharmaceuticals, microelectronics, biomedical and also aircraft maintenance, to name but a few.
What is therefore the mission of DiME? The department carries out activities in three main areas (i) knowledge transfer (lecturing) (ii) knowledge generation (research) and (iii) knowledge application. In our specific case, research and training is provided in the field of product development methodologies and technologies. The main aim is to prepare professional engineers who are able to improve industrial performance measures, including cost, time, quality, reliability, flexibility, sustainability, safety and product usability, factors that are all critical in achieving and maintaining a global competitive advantage.
Our modules, together with those administered by other departments within the Faculty of Engineering, contribute to the currently running undergraduate BEng (Hons) degree.
To be able to provide students with an exciting career path, and after taking into consideration opinions emerging from different Maltese industrial stakeholders, a proposal to set up a new undergraduate degree aimed at the professional formation of interdisciplinary engineers has been approved in 2008 by the Faculty of Engineering: a Bachelors in Advanced Industrial Engineering (Hons).
We also execute postgraduate research programs that lead to the award of MPhil and PhD degrees. In addition, we already offer an evening, part-time MSc in Integrated Product Development (IPD) course for which we have a good number of participants, coming from a range of local industrial entities. This Masters degree meets the needs of a number of electrical and mechanical engineers, who become aware of the benefits of specialising in this field - a demand which is growing in today's knowledge-based manufacturing environment. In addition, we also run a number of short evening courses.
In order to achieve all this, DiME has a number of facilities to support lecturing and research activities. Full details of our activities can be seen at our web page at: http://www.eng.um.edu.mt/~dmeu/dme/
The department has also been collaborating closely with industrial entities for several years through applied research projects covering different aspects of design and manufacturing. We have worked with companies such as Baxter Ltd, Toly, Methode Electronics, Air Malta and Wasteserv on projects involving automation, process improvements (including environmental considerations), product improvement, redesign of components and systems, as well as the development of design tools to support their engineers.
The department also organises weekly industrial visits for students to expose them to the application of topics they cover during their lectures. For this, we find very good support from a range of Maltese industrial firms.
We also organise career visits during which companies explain career opportunities for engineers within their firm. We also invite industrial stakeholders to attend public lectures we organise on a range of topics, including a few that are delivered annually by foreign visiting lecturers.
We also work closely with some industrial firms interested in submitting R&D project proposals; for instance, in the last few months, the department managed to secure two research and innovation projects funded by the Malta Council for Science and Technology. These involve a range of industrial partners such as FOI, Trelleborg, Jamesco and Prominent, to mention a few. We are also proud to have a very good link with Malta Enterprise, which regularly brings over foreign visitors exploring the possibility of setting up operations in Malta, and who therefore need to know what type of graduates and university facilities etc. are available.
Malta Enterprise also collaborates with DiME in other ways such as, for instance, sponsoring an annual award for the most innovative student engineering design project.
The department's activities are not limited to Malta. Our academic staff members regularly attend and actively participate in a number of international conferences taking place across the globe, ranging from the US to Australia. During these events, our research work has won awards, such as the Best Paper during the NordDesign 2002 conference in Trondheim, Norway.
In addition, DiME have a number of ongoing international activities. These include:
? EU Asia Link project called Fastahead
? An FP6 project called Cooreers
? Recently completed an EUMedis project called the Mediterranean Virtual University (see ) through which we developed e-learning courseware on computer-aided engineering design and computer-integrated manufacturing
Through very good links we have with foreign partners, we also regularly send our postgraduate researchers for short placements abroad and our undergraduate students on Socrates Erasmus exchange visits. In June, DiME will be also hosting a number of Scandinavian PhD students attending a Summer School on Engineering Design Research. Also, from an international perspective it is worth mentioning that last summer, a departmental delegation of staff members together with undergraduate and postgraduate students went for an industrial tour to France, including a visit to the Airbus assembly plant in Toulouse to see the assembly of the new Airbus A380 Super Jumbo.
• Dr Ing. Borg is the head of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Malta.
In addition, many Maltese service industries such as shipping agencies, building service providers, transportation services, raw material suppliers etc. have a substantial portion of their work related to the manufacturing sector. This relationship between services and industry is also acknowledged by the EU Commission which in its study on its vision for manufacturing in 2020 clearly states that "An economy based on service industries alone will not survive in the longer term. As each job in manufacturing is linked to two jobs in services, the reliance on services cannot continue in the long term without a competitive EU manufacturing sector".
The Maltese government is aware that manufacturing is very important to Malta as reflected in both Malta's research and innovation policy and Malta's industrial policy. In December 2006, the Prime Minister explicitly stated that the manufacturing industry in Malta has paramount strategic and economic importance. We were indeed pleased that a number of local stakeholders namely Federation of Industry, the Malta Council for Science and Technology and Malta Enterprise joined forces with the university's Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (DiME) to organise a national conference entitled The Future of Manufacturing in European Malta, that was opened and addressed by the Prime Minister. The numerous participants were also addressed by EU Commission personnel who clearly stated that for the EU, manufacturing is indeed very important.
All this clearly shows that industrial and manufacturing engineering is very relevant to Malta. Suffice to mention that we are increasingly seeing high-added value manufacturing and industrial operations taking place in Malta including pharmaceuticals, microelectronics, biomedical and also aircraft maintenance, to name but a few.
What is therefore the mission of DiME? The department carries out activities in three main areas (i) knowledge transfer (lecturing) (ii) knowledge generation (research) and (iii) knowledge application. In our specific case, research and training is provided in the field of product development methodologies and technologies. The main aim is to prepare professional engineers who are able to improve industrial performance measures, including cost, time, quality, reliability, flexibility, sustainability, safety and product usability, factors that are all critical in achieving and maintaining a global competitive advantage.
Our modules, together with those administered by other departments within the Faculty of Engineering, contribute to the currently running undergraduate BEng (Hons) degree.
To be able to provide students with an exciting career path, and after taking into consideration opinions emerging from different Maltese industrial stakeholders, a proposal to set up a new undergraduate degree aimed at the professional formation of interdisciplinary engineers has been approved in 2008 by the Faculty of Engineering: a Bachelors in Advanced Industrial Engineering (Hons).
We also execute postgraduate research programs that lead to the award of MPhil and PhD degrees. In addition, we already offer an evening, part-time MSc in Integrated Product Development (IPD) course for which we have a good number of participants, coming from a range of local industrial entities. This Masters degree meets the needs of a number of electrical and mechanical engineers, who become aware of the benefits of specialising in this field - a demand which is growing in today's knowledge-based manufacturing environment. In addition, we also run a number of short evening courses.
In order to achieve all this, DiME has a number of facilities to support lecturing and research activities. Full details of our activities can be seen at our web page at: http://www.eng.um.edu.mt/~dmeu/dme/
The department has also been collaborating closely with industrial entities for several years through applied research projects covering different aspects of design and manufacturing. We have worked with companies such as Baxter Ltd, Toly, Methode Electronics, Air Malta and Wasteserv on projects involving automation, process improvements (including environmental considerations), product improvement, redesign of components and systems, as well as the development of design tools to support their engineers.
The department also organises weekly industrial visits for students to expose them to the application of topics they cover during their lectures. For this, we find very good support from a range of Maltese industrial firms.
We also organise career visits during which companies explain career opportunities for engineers within their firm. We also invite industrial stakeholders to attend public lectures we organise on a range of topics, including a few that are delivered annually by foreign visiting lecturers.
We also work closely with some industrial firms interested in submitting R&D project proposals; for instance, in the last few months, the department managed to secure two research and innovation projects funded by the Malta Council for Science and Technology. These involve a range of industrial partners such as FOI, Trelleborg, Jamesco and Prominent, to mention a few. We are also proud to have a very good link with Malta Enterprise, which regularly brings over foreign visitors exploring the possibility of setting up operations in Malta, and who therefore need to know what type of graduates and university facilities etc. are available.
Malta Enterprise also collaborates with DiME in other ways such as, for instance, sponsoring an annual award for the most innovative student engineering design project.
The department's activities are not limited to Malta. Our academic staff members regularly attend and actively participate in a number of international conferences taking place across the globe, ranging from the US to Australia. During these events, our research work has won awards, such as the Best Paper during the NordDesign 2002 conference in Trondheim, Norway.
In addition, DiME have a number of ongoing international activities. These include:
? EU Asia Link project called Fastahead
? An FP6 project called Cooreers
? Recently completed an EUMedis project called the Mediterranean Virtual University (see ) through which we developed e-learning courseware on computer-aided engineering design and computer-integrated manufacturing
Through very good links we have with foreign partners, we also regularly send our postgraduate researchers for short placements abroad and our undergraduate students on Socrates Erasmus exchange visits. In June, DiME will be also hosting a number of Scandinavian PhD students attending a Summer School on Engineering Design Research. Also, from an international perspective it is worth mentioning that last summer, a departmental delegation of staff members together with undergraduate and postgraduate students went for an industrial tour to France, including a visit to the Airbus assembly plant in Toulouse to see the assembly of the new Airbus A380 Super Jumbo.
• Dr Ing. Borg is the head of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Malta.