• The new Charles Sturt Engineering degree is helping to tackle the shortage of engineers in Australia at a time of increasing need and opportunity
• Graduates will be equipped to handle rapidly evolving industries such as technology and robotics, manufacturing, and projects aimed at meeting climate change targets
• Charles Sturt cadet engineers can earn up to $90,000 in total from their host organisations during two years of paid placements to assist with tackling some of the nation’s biggest engineering challenges

Faced with a national shortage of engineers, Charles Sturt University has enhanced its world-renowned engineering degree to offer electrical and mechanical engineering options as well as civil engineering.

The implications of the engineering skills crisis range from delays to nation-building projects, stifled productivity and low growth, failing to reach Australia’s net-zero goals and missing out on the next wave of wealth creation in eco-technology and innovation.

Director of the Charles Sturt Engineering program Professor Tim Anderson said Engineers Australia has warned of a ‘new norm’ of an economy hampered by this skills shortage.

“Engineers play a vital role in driving every sector of the economy and Charles Sturt University is helping to tackle the deepening engineering skills crisis in Australia,” Professor Anderson said.

“Engineers Australia has emphasised that Australia’s engineering skills and labour shortage is at its highest level in over a decade, with the demand for engineering skills outpacing supply.”

In addition to offering civil, electrical and mechanical engineering, the Charles Sturt Engineering program in the School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering now offers the revamped Charles Sturt Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in a ‘2 + 2’ format.

This means students will do two years study on campus and then two years of paid work placement cadetships, anywhere they prefer.

Professor Anderson said the revamped Charles Sturt Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) will ensure its graduate engineers are indispensable to the rapidly evolving innovation realm, such as technology and robotics for agriculture/horticulture, and high-value manufacturing, as well as overcoming the nation’s most pressing challenges.

“The challenges range from climate change to clean energy transition and complex infrastructure needs, such as the future of transport systems, sustainable cities, defence and overall national resilience,” he said.

Charles Sturt Engineering Course Director and Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering Dr Miao Li said, with two years of paid cadetships, Charles Sturt cadet engineers get more work placement experience than any other four-year engineering degree in Australia.

“The new Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) combined with the Charles Sturt Engineering ‘cadet’ model means our highly employable cadet engineers and future engineering graduates will help development of the various Renewable Energy Zones (Orana, South West, New England, etc) in NSW, and beyond,” Dr Li said.

“This offers the University’s engineering students and cadets personal and professional advantages not available to counterparts at other university engineering courses.

“In addition, the ‘cadet’ model means Charles Sturt Engineering cadets can earn as much as $90,000 in total from their host organisations during their cadetship.

“They are also encouraged to apply to the Transgrid Engineering Scholarship fund for scholarships worth $20,000 which support the next generation of Australian engineers through their tertiary education.”

The scholarship fund aims to provide $2 million to support the education of 100 engineering students at the University in Bathurst.

Prospective students can attend ‘Meet the Course Director’ sessions in the foyer of the Engineering Building (1305) or join online via https://charlessturt.zoom.us/j/68398516393 from 12pm to 12.45pm on the last Friday of each month.