In a first for Australian engineering education, UQ Engineering students will now have the opportunity to complete two internationally-recognised degrees simultaneously during the course of their studies.
An agreement between the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology (EAIT) and the Ecoles Centrales in France will see outstanding engineering students from both countries participating in a unique double degree program.
Representing five of France’s elite Grandes Écoles, the engineering schools in the Écoles Centrales group offer world-class facilities with campuses in Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Marseille and Paris.
EAIT Associate Dean (Academic) Professor Caroline Crosthwaite said the opportunity to attend one of these prestigious engineering schools would enable students to build on the skills they developed at UQ.
“The Écoles Centrales have a strong industry focus and participate in partnerships with international companies such as Airbus and Renault,” Professor Crosthwaite said.
“In addition, the Écoles Centrales take a multi-disciplinary approach to their engineering education, producing engineers of a high scientific and technical level with strong cultural backgrounds.”
UQ students will spend the first two years of their undergraduate program at UQ before studying for two years in France and then returning to Queensland for a further two years to complete their Masters studies.
At the end of their six years of study, the Australian students will be awarded a Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering from UQ and a Diplôme d’Ingénieur from the French institution.
Professor Crosthwaite said the double degree program would broaden the participants’ career opportunities.
“The degrees which will be awarded to our students are of the highest international standards and will enable them to work anywhere in the world,” she said.
“As well as having a solid academic grounding, these students will experience life in a different country and have an excellent working knowledge of another language and culture.”
UQ is the first Australian university to develop a double degree program with the Écoles Centrales, having participated in reciprocal exchanges with the group since the 1990s.
Media: Alice Walker at the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology (3346 7696, a.walker1@uq.edu.au)
