Chinese Fangyi Shi from the Technological Designer's programme Software Technology was officially honoured on Wednesday 1 October by Rector Magnificus Hans van Duijn of TU/e (Eindhoven University of Technology). She is the 3,500th recipient of the Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) degree at one of the three universities of technology in the Netherlands since its introduction in 1986. Van Duijn pointed out that the program has accounted for a € 350 million investment in innovation over a 30-year period.
Shi (27) gained her Bachelor’s at Beijing University of Technology and her Master’s at the Technical University of Denmark. The assignment that she completed last year at TNO-ESI as part of the Designer’s programme Software Technology was entitled ‘Coherent Tool Support for Design Space Exploration’, and aimed at integrating the tools to support the analysis and documentation of design choices. Her design contributes to coordinating the different tools in the process and execution of ways to visualize and simulate different design alternatives.
Facts and figures about the PDEng programme
TU/e has now successfully educated more than 2,300 PDEng graduates on the employment market in the Netherlands. A striking fact is that more than 80% of the designers are from other countries. The programme has proved to be a near-guarantee of employment, as almost 90% of the PDEng graduates find permanent jobs in the Netherlands. Many of them are offered positions by the companies in which they carry out their assignments, and more than half of the designers stay in the Brainport region. Another striking fact is that, in contrast with other forms of higher technical education, almost half the participants are women.
Specialisation as technological designer
The three universities of technology in the Netherlands – Delft, Eindhoven and Twente – started the PDEng programmes in 1986 to answer the need from industry for broadly educated knowledge workers. Graduates are mainly engineers with a sound basis in a single scientific or technological subject, together with relevant supporting disciplines and technological design. During their education they work for two years as technological designers at one of the universities of technology. One year is devoted to broad education, mainly in related disciplines and design methods. Then they work for around one year in a company on a concrete design assignment. Scientists from the universities of technology also contribute expertise, advice and support, and together with experts from the company assess whether the design assignments meet the standards of the Professional Doctor in Engineering (PDEng) degree.
3TU.School for Technological Design, Stan Ackermans Institute
The designer programmes have been coordinated since 2006 under the flag of the 3TU.School for Technological Design, Stan Ackermans Institute (SAI). The institute is a cooperation between the three universities of technology in the Netherlands: Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Twente.