Global engineering teams – a programme promoting teamwork in engineering design and manufacturing

Engineering graduates are expected to possess various competencies categorised into hard and soft skills. The hard skills are acquired through specific coursework, but the soft skills are often treated perfunctorily. Global Engineering Teams (GET) is a programme that promotes project-oriented tasks in virtual student teams working in collaboration with industry partners. Teamwork is a major success factor for GET as students always work in groups of varying sizes.A questionnaire-based survey of the 2008 cohort of GET studentswas conducted to assess teamwork, communication and conflict resolution among group members. The results confirmed that deliverables are readily achieved in teams and communication was open. A challenge of using virtual teams is the availability of high-speed Internet access.TheGETprogramme shows that it is possible to deliver engineering design and manufacturing via industry/university collaboration. The programme also facilitates multidisciplinary teamwork at an international level.