Curtin Engineering Faculty, Curtin University of Technology

Curtin Engineering Faculty

Staff Plan

October 2006 - Draft

1.  Executive Summary

Curtin Engineering Faculty comprises four departments

·  Chemical Engineering

·  Civil Engineering

·  Electrical and Computer Engineering

·  Mechanical Engineering

Each of these four departments is expected to achieve an operating surplus in 2006, giving a total positive cash balance position for the Faculty of some $3,000k at the close of 2006. This has been achieved through the application of a fiscal prudence that embraced a rise in undergraduate-student numbers, focused programs with large unit-enrolments and very limited spending on infrastructure. The Faculty has also increased significantly its number of higher degree research students; this aligns with its intent to further strengthen its research profile, in which it far exceeds university averages in metrics that measure research activity and output.

One serious consequence of the growth of Curtin Engineering has been that the Student to staff ratio has increased to an unsustainably high level. Within Curtin Engineering Faculty each Departments current and foreshadowed operational finances are more than sufficient to redress staffing imbalances, for at least five years. The Faculty’s first and immediate objective, and the focus of this document, is therefore on recruiting more staff, initially on limited-term appointments.

Recruitment of new staff is not simply to improve the ratio of students to staff, but will be guided by the objective of ensuring that the Faculty’s research portfolio is sustainable, incorporating a balanced range of discipline areas and utilises the right mix of expertise in theoretical, computational and experimental approaches. This will ensures its long-term viability, potential to grow and ability to expand into emerging research areas.

This document summarises the environment in which Curtin Engineering Faculty is pursuing its Vision and its overall objectives, and the specific objectives of its four departments. The current staff profiles do not allow these goals to be achieved. Consequently, Curtin Engineering Faculty seeks to make a total of fifteen new five-year limited term appointments, as set out the table below.

Department / Level / Fields
Chemical Engineering
Five appointments / Senior Lecturer / Biosystems Engineering
Associate Professor / Mineral Processing
Senior Lecturer / Water
Lecturer / Oil and Gas (Petroleum Engineering)
Lecturer / Mineral Processing

Civil Engineering

Three appointments / Senior Lecturer / Sustainable use, reuse and maintenance of infrastructure, Sustainable materials use in Civil Engineering
Lecturer / Water supply and water resources,
Environmental issues in Civil Engineering work
Lecturer / Sustainable use, reuse and maintenance of infrastructure
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Two appointments / Associate Professor / Signals and Systems/Electrical Circuits/DSP/CSP
Lecturer / Electronic Design
Mechanical Engineering
Five appointments / Senior Lecturer/Program Leader / Robotics/Automation
Lecturer / Robotics/Automation/Design
Lecturer / Vibration/Acoustics/FEM
Lecturer / Design/Precision Fabrication
Lecturer / Bio-Fluid Mechanics

The Faculty cannot – nor does it wish to – stand still in what is an increasingly competitive environment. Domestically, Curtin Engineering must address the effect of the University of Western Australia’s planned expansion in Engineering and its adoption of successful educational initiatives pioneered by Curtin Engineering.

Accordingly, complementing the targeted recruitment of new staff to be funded by its teaching income, the Faculty is also proposing that its accumulated $3,000k surplus be re-invested in capital improvements that will reinforce and further strengthen Curtin Engineering’s unique identity.

The outcome of this strategy will be an increased recognition of Curtin Engineering’s programs for providing an educational experience that results in graduates who “have a solid theoretical base, have a strong practical focus, are culturally astute and are professionally accomplished” (Curtin Engineering’s overarching educational aim). Increased recognition and an enhanced reputation for its distinct approach will ensure that Curtin Engineering’s programs offer a real and valid choice in engineering education both domestically and internationally.

2.  Background

Curtin Engineering Faculty has evolved from four Schools, which were separate until 2003 and are now the Faculty’s Departments of:

·  Chemical Engineering

·  Civil Engineering

·  Electrical and Computer Engineering

·  Mechanical Engineering

From 2003 until 2005 the Faculty included Computing, which is now the Department of Computer Science within the Faculty of Science and Computing.

Consolidation of engineering teaching within the Faculty is continuing, with the most notable initiative being the adoption in 2004 of the Engineering Foundation Year (EFY), which provides an essentially common year for students entering all four Departments. This initiative gives students an extra year to finalise their choice of engineering discipline, and also affords significant economies in teaching. The EFY is complemented by the provision of a designated First Year Studio and tutorial arrangements both designed to provide a socially supportive environment for first year students making the transition to university studies (a development that is being copied by the University of Western Australia). This initiative has received favourable comment from Engineers Australia when it accredited the Faculty’s courses in 2005. It has also resulted in a higher retention rate from initial enrolment to progression to second year.

The evolution in Curtin Engineering is clearly evident in the development of an already significant and rapidly growing research orientation. The majority of current academic staff are classed as research-active, and three research areas that started within engineering have grown into recognised research entities (WA Telecommunications Research Institute, Woodside Hydrocarbon Research Facility, Centre for Fuels and Energy). Within the Engineering Faculty research areas continue to develop within departments and discipline groups, a number of which are now associated with Tier-2 research groupings, and with potential for some to follow the path of consolidation into recognised research centres.

In the area of teaching, consolidation from separate Schools into a Faculty has progressed very considerably. Whilst the Departmental responses to the adoption of the Consolidated Teaching Policy initially led to some re-packaging of existing modules into the required unit sizes, units are progressively being revised on a more uniform basis, a development spurred by the adoption of uniform unit outline descriptions in preparation for the 2005 accreditation visit. Nevertheless, vestiges of the previous structure are still evident in the different patterns of course offerings from the four Departments, particularly in the availability of double degrees, as shown in the following table.

Course / Chemical / Civil / Electrical & Computer / Mechanical
Bachelor of Engineering in: / Chemical Engineering / Civil and Construction Engineering / ·  Computer Systems Engineering
·  Electrical Engineering
·  Electronic and Communication Engineering / ·  Mechanical Engineering
·  Mechatronic Engineering
Bachelor of Technology / Computer Systems and Networking
Double degrees
Science / Applied Chemistry / Computer Science; Physics (available with all three BEng degrees)
WASM / Extractive Metallurgy / Mining
Curtin Business School / Eight CBS courses available as double degrees

The four Departments all offer research degrees at PhD and Masters level, together with a number of postgraduate qualifications available through coursework. The coursework postgraduate degrees are tailored particularly for international students.

Most of the Faculty’s courses are also available at the Curtin Sarawak campus at Miri. Engineering Faculty staff provide support for Curtin Sarawak staff to ensure the equivalence required for accreditation – since the degrees are not differentiated in any way, Engineers Australia requires that both degree pathways be accredited jointly and severally. This requirement to provide support has involved significant additional work for Engineering Faculty staff especially when new courses and units are introduced at the Miri campus, and at times when there has been high staff turnover there.

Consolidation of the Faculty has seen considerable rationalisation of laboratory and workshop facilities and staffing. Progress has also been made on the retirement of obsolete and inappropriate equipment that reflected the University’s origins as an institute of technical rather than professional education, and replacement by laboratory-scale equipment designed expressly for contemporary engineering courses.

Context for staff planning

Curtin Engineering Faculty is expected to achieve an operating surplus of some $3,800k for 2006. This will more than adequately cover a 2005 carry-forward deficit and result in a positive cash-balance position of approximately $3,000k at the close of 2006. This has been achieved through the application of a fiscal prudence that embraced a rise in undergraduate-student numbers, focused programs with large unit-enrolments and very limited spending on infrastructure. The Faculty has also increased significantly its number of HDR students; this aligns with its intent to further strengthen its research profile. The Faculty is a strong provider of service teaching to other areas of the University, contributes a large number of Cluster-8 EFTSL to the University’s profile, upholds the differentiating practical-focus ethos of the University, and far exceeds university averages in metrics that measure research activity and output.

One serious consequence of the growth of Curtin Engineering has been that the Student to staff ratio has increased to an unsustainably high level, much above the national norm for engineering teaching, and higher than for comparable units in Curtin, such as WASM. Within Curtin Engineering Faculty each Departments current and foreshadowed operational finances are more than sufficient to redress staffing imbalances, for at least five years. The Faculty’s first and immediate objective is therefore to recruit more staff, initially on limited-term appointments, and this is the focus of this document.

However, the Faculty has more far-reaching objectives that will guide its recruitment of new staff.

In particular, research, alongside teaching and learning, is now a core activity of Curtin Engineering Faculty. Over the last decade a rapid increase in R&D output has occurred. Most importantly, research is now being conducted by the vast majority (more than 90%) of academic staff in the Faculty. This broad capacity is the hallmark of a mature university faculty: it underpins a unifying culture of scholarship and provides a research stability that is robust to internal or external changes.

Recruitment of new staff will be guided by the objective of ensuring that the Faculty’s research portfolio is sustainable, incorporating a balanced range of discipline areas and utilises the right mix of expertise in theoretical, computational and experimental approaches. This will ensures its long-term viability, potential to grow and ability to expand into emerging research areas.

The Faculty cannot – nor does it wish to – stand still in what is an increasingly competitive environment. Domestically, Curtin Engineering must address the effect of the University of Western Australia’s planned expansion in Engineering and its adoption of successful educational initiatives pioneered by Curtin Engineering, for example, the creation of a first-year studio, the relaxation of certain pre-requisites for entry to Engineering programs (and attendant program changes to accommodate this), and a push to downplay the more theoretical character of their programs with an increased emphasis on the practical.

It is not an exaggeration to state that Curtin Engineering faces very immediate challenges. How it responds to these right now could determine the future existence of Engineering at Curtin University. The Faculty can either take a wait-and-see attitude (for example, see what UWA does) or forge its own destiny by investing its earned surplus to build a clearly differentiated identity and fulfil its vision of engineering education so as to secure a unique and sustainable position in the market.

Accordingly, complementing the targeted recruitment of new staff to be funded by its teaching income, the Faculty is also proposing that its accumulated $3,000k surplus be re-invested in capital improvements that will reinforce and further strengthen Curtin Engineering’s unique identity. The outcome of this strategy will be an increased recognition of Curtin Engineering’s programs for providing an educational experience that results in graduates who “have a solid theoretical base, have a strong practical focus, are culturally astute and are professionally accomplished” (Curtin Engineering’s overarching educational aim). Increased recognition and an enhanced reputation for its distinct approach will ensure that Curtin Engineering’s programs offer a real and valid choice in engineering education both domestically and internationally.

3.  Current Staff Profile

The current staff profile is provided in the form of a set of spreadsheets, one for each department. These spreadsheets summarise the skill sets of individual staff members in relation to the strategic goals set out below. The skill requirements for the new staff requested are also set out in these spreadsheets.

4.  Vision

The Faculty’s Vision is for ‘Curtin Engineering’ to be recognised as emblematic of our distinctive, world-class, internationally focused education and research programs that yield the knowledge and skills to meet contemporary and future industry and community needs.

The overarching aim for our education programs is to provide an experience that results in graduates who have a solid theoretical base, have a strong practical focus, are culturally astute and are professionally accomplished

Our research programs aim to engage in, and exploit the essential links between, fundamental, applications-driven and wholly applied research, thereby continuously regenerating research activity and maximising the involvement of staff in the Faculty.

5.  Factors Influencing Vision

This is an environmental scan. Using bullet points, outline the factors, both environmental and staff related, that will affect the vision. This will include, but is not limited to. Student Numbers, Internationalisation, Consolidated Teaching Policy impact, Divisional Objectives, Succession Planning, Staff qualifications.

Undergraduate student numbers

·  Throughout most of the 1990s and until about three years ago, the total demand for engineering places at Curtin was relatively static, however this masked considerable variations in demand between the different engineering disciplines.

o  There was a high demand for places in electrical and computer engineering, strongly related to the information technology boom in the late 1990s, with correspondingly fewer enrolments in chemical, civil, and mechanical engineering – the resources boom of the past several years has reversed this pattern of demand.

·  Demand for engineering graduates in Australia is currently at historically high levels and, reflecting this demand, enrolments in Curtin Engineering are the highest they have been since Curtin was established as a University in 1987.