PROFESS 12 Summer School (Belfast & Dublin)

Description

Over five days, engineering students from Ulster University and Technological University took part in a pilot residential Summer School designed to equip them with the professional skills required to prevent unsustainable consumption and production patterns and work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds throughout their work lives.

The students participated in a range of activities to help them understand the importance of sustainability from an engineering context, develop the critical skills required for working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds, and enhance their communication and presentation skills.

Ulster University hosted one half of the Summer School which focused on sustainability in mobility and transport and involved visits to:
- Spirit AeroSystems: where students learned about new manufacturing and assembly processes used in the production of aerostructures, specifically commercial aircraft wings.
- Artemis Technologies, a company developing zero-emission maritime vessels; where students had the opportunity to learn about the company's origins and current innovative activities as well as tour research and manufacturing facilities.
Belfast’s shipbuilding history was also explored in a trip to the Titanic Museum.

TU Dublin hosted the other half of the Summer School, in which students participated in group activities focussed on solving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and creating a product using circular economy principles. A simulation exercise was also conducted to help the students learn about working with people of different cultures and how it feels to give and receive help whilst practising their negotiation and leadership skills. A key aim of the project is to improve relationships with researchers and students in the North and South, and a tour of Dublin’s famous Guinness Storehouse was organised to help students explore historical aspects of Dublin City.

The week concluded with workshops designed to help students calculate their carbon footprint and reflect on how they could make a change in the world, while a prize-giving ceremony recognised various achievements relating to engagement, leadership and communication skills.

The pilot Summer School was organised by the PROFESS 12 project, funded through the North-South Research Programme. The NRSP is delivered by the Higher Education Authority on behalf of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Shared Island Unit at the Department of the Taoiseach.  The PROFESS 12 team would like to acknowledge the support of the HEA, the DFHERIS and the Shared Island Fund for funding the project.

Period	29 May 2023 → 2 Jun 2023
Event type	Course
Location	Belfast, Northern IrelandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International