Where Next for BSI and Higher Education?

Copyright © 2015 BSI. All rights reserved.

What next for BSI and Higher Education?Newell Hampson-JonesThursday, 30 July 2015

02/05/2023

2Copyright © 2015 BSI. All rights reserved.

Employable Knowledge

Employability is one of the higher education sector's biggest concerns, with many policy and strategic documents in the sector focused on employable skills. But what about the knowledge behind those skills?To us, standards are knowledge. They are the bridge between academic knowledge and practical skill. For students standards can be far more personally valuable; standards are employable knowledge. By referring to standards in an interview a student can show a greater understanding of real world techniques and practices that the company interviewing most likely uses. This means that access to and understanding of standards becomes more important to enhancing a student's employability.In 2013, with BIS funding, BSI commissioned a report from a team of academics from Middlesex and Loughborough Universities to explore which standards are being taught in the UK and what standards employers want taught.


Focus and Objectives

BSI’s proactive focus:•Postgraduate higher education providers and stakeholders.•Education departments at Trade Associations and Professional Bodies.

BSI’s objectives :• Improve how standards, and the unique process by which the National Standards Body (NSB) creates these standards, are taught in UK postgraduate higher education.•Use BSI to connect industry, academia and students.•Raise awareness of BSI amongst the UK postgraduate education sector and it’s influencers.


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Improve Teachin

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Raise awarenes

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Connect industry, academi

a and students

Open forums

Online engagement

Resources

Lectures

Young Engineering Professionals

Studentprojects

Internationalcollaboration

Learningoutcomes


Improving Teaching

Lectures• BSI has a Speakers Network of staff who can teach on a specific set of standards or the

NSB process. BSI has spoken at a diverse range of universities – including UCL, DeMontfort University, University of Leeds, and Birmingham City University – from undergraduate to postgraduate level.

Learning Outcomes• BSI can assist institutions in writing learning objectives for integration into new and

existing courses. These objectives would giving students measurable outcomes which show their standards knowledge and skills to potential employers. • BSI is also working with Trade Associations and Professional Bodies to see how education

about standards can enhance their learning frameworks. BSI has worked with the Construction Industry Training Board to embed Building Information Modelling into their ‘Standards for 14 -19 Education’ document.

Resources• BSI has resources available to use for teaching about standards and standardisation

independently, including:• Slide decks• Multiple choice questions• Discussion topics• Workshop Activities• A World of Standards textbook

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A World Built on Standards

In order to support European education about standards, the British Standards Institution, Danish Standards, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, the Finnish Standards Association and the University of Zagreb have, with support from the European Standards organisations CEN and CENELEC, developed free educational material for higher education. A World Build on Standards is a texbook that guides the reader through a world built on standards. They are introduced to topics such as:• What is a standard?• What are the benefits of standards?• Who makes a standard?• How do I read a standard?• What is CE-marking?• How do standards relate to regulation?• Can standards support innovation?

A World Built on Standards is supported by multiple choice questions, Power Point presentations and case studies of how others have taught standards and standardization. After each chapter in the textbook, questions that can be used as discussion points on matters related to the chapter are provided.This publication and all supporting material is free to distribute, but not for commercial use and can be downloaded from www.ds.dk/education.

http://www.ds.dk/education


Connect industry, academia and students

Standards Development Open Forums• BSI has held Open Forums on standards to give local students, businesses and

consumers the opportunity to learn about and contribute to standards in development. At the open forum events, participants can:• Witness a meeting held on the development of the standard• Question the committee about elements of the standard being written• Comment or offer feedback on the work being done.• Each Open Forum offers universities the chance to have a workshop set up for

students to learn more about standards and standardisation around the event.Student Projects• To support students embarking on research projects or dissertations for their

course, BSI can offer project briefs. The projects fall into two categories: • Guided projects BSI will provide staff time and guidance, data and potential

research space to the student. These projects are limited and will be applied to by students.

• Research questions A set of questions that offer students the chance to investigate issues directly or indirectly connected to standards and standardisation. Students will be completely self reliant, although use of BSI’s Knowledge Centre is always available.

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Raise awareness

Young Engineering Professionals• The Young Engineering Professionals (YEP) Workshop is a one-day conference

focusing on the future of engineering, promoting multi-disciplinary working to reach shared goals. Graduates and new professionals are invited to hear speakers discuss the emerging trends and issues of the sector and contribute to briefing documents.• The YEP Workshop is a lead in event to a new, soon-to-be launched programme

to introduce young professionals to the standards setting community.International Impact• BSI sits on the CEN/CENELEC Joint Working Group – Education about

Standardisation to influence and support Education about standardization throughout Europe. An outcome of this work is the textbook ‘A World Built on Standards’ and supporting material.

Online Engagement• As well as BSI’s education website with educational resources for schools, BSI

is active online in influencing the policy discussion contributing articles to, amongst others, LinkedIn, WonkHE and Buzzfeed.•Work is also disseminated through the other social media platforms, including

Twitter and Tumblr.02/05/2023


Young Engineering Professionals

On April 30th 2015, the first Young Engineering Professionals workshop was held at Royal Academy of Engineering’s Prince Philip House. The aim of the event was to enthuse young graduates and early career professionals about standards and the future of engineering. There was a prestigious list of speakers, including Warren East (soon-to-be CEO of Rolls Royce), Dame Ann Dowling (President of the Royal Academy of Engineering) and Scott Steedman hosting.

The event had 140 delegates in the room, or joining us online, and feedback from the delegates was very positive, with 81% of respondents hoping to increase their involvement with the standards process over the course of their careers. Scott said of the event:“There was a fantastic buzz at yesterday’s Young Engineering Professionals (YEP) event as our themes of smart cities, robotics and entrepreneurship resonated with the audience; business underpinned by engineering, and engineering underpinned by standards that support performance and innovation.”

The event also announced the UK representatives for the IEC Young Professionals Programme in Minsk this year: Juliano Katrib, Roberto Fernandez, Emily Gould, pictured above with Geoff Young, President

of the British Electrotechnical Committee and Scott Steedman.

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Where Next for BSI and Higher Education?

Education

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