Professorial Inaugural Lecture - Professor Abel Nymapfene

UCL’s Centre for Engineering Education within the Faculty of Engineering Sciences is honoured to present this series of education-based inaugural lectures celebrating the career, leadership and achievements of education-focused Professors from across the faculty.

On 20 February 2024 we host Professor Abel Nyamapfene, with his lecture Explorations in Learning and Teaching: Going beyond Education.

This year marks the tenth year since the inception of the University College London (UCL) Integrated Engineering Programme, an educational framework that underpins most undergraduate engineering programmes at UCL. The UCL Integrated Engineering Programme (the IEP) is built around a central core of problem-based learning (PBL) projects that commence from the first year and run throughout all degree programmes. These projects have been deliberately designed to provide students with authentic learning experiences that enable them to connect theory and practice within a collaborative, interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary environment. The IEP is not unique, and most engineering schools throughout the world have now adopted elements of hands-on, problem-based learning within their curricula. But is this enough, or is it simply tinkering at the edges of an engineering education model whose time is now past? In this lecture I draw on my own experiences as a learner and a teacher to shed light on possibilities and futures for higher education, with specific reference to current and emerging engineering education models.

Short bio:

Professor Abel Nyamapfene is an experienced engineering education leader with core teaching experience in Computer Science and AI, Electronics and Power Engineering, Engineering Mathematics, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship. He has extensive module and programme leadership experience acquired from 6 universities across Africa and the UK, and he has led the introduction of two very successful academic programmes, namely the UCL MSc Engineering & Education, and the Catholic University of Zimbabwe (CUZ) flagship programme - the Bachelor of Business Management and Information Technology Honours Degree. He is a founding member of the UCL Integrated Engineering Programme (IEP), the award-winning teaching and learning framework underpinning the majority of UCL undergraduate engineering programmes, and prior to this, he led the modernisation and transformation of the MSc Electrical Power Systems Distance Learning programme at the University of Bath and reformed the common first year for undergraduate engineering programmes at the University of Exeter. He has published extensively on his work on engineering curriculum reform and is a much-sought-after speaker with over 20 keynote addresses and invited talks across five continents.

Host: Professor Emanuela Tilley, Director of Studies, UCL Centre for Engineering Education

The lecture will run from 6-7pm, with a drinks reception from 7-8pm. This event is open to the public, as well as all UCL staff and students.

This is an in person event but we will record the lecture for those of you who aren't in London.