Brunel University Dept of Systems Engineering Launches New Mobile Phone Technology & Computing BSc Course

Brunel University launches new Mobile Phone Technology and Computing BSc Course in a bid to address the widening gap between engineering skills supply and demand.

Brunel University Department of Systems Engineering today unveils a totally new BSc course in Mobile Phone Technology and Computing. Developed by a team of leading academics at the department, the course aims to meet the needs of the ever-growing demand in wireless communication technologies and addresses the widening gap between demand and supply for engineering skills in modern technology. The course is supported by leading mobile technology industry partners including BT Brightstar.

"We've devised this course to attract students back into engineering degree courses - so critical to the development of the mobile and wireless world of the 21st Century", comments head of Dept, Professor Balachandran. Over the last few years, engineering has suffered from a particularly low take-up rate among students, despite interesting courses in modern communications technologies and excellent job opportunities.

According to the Engineering Council's Digest of Engineering Statistics 2001, engineering graduates earn 20% more than other graduates - and the very low unemployment within the profession shows that market demand for graduates is high.

The recent DTI White Paper on 'Science and Innovation' quotes that: "There are... shortages of electrical engineers, computer scientists and of people with the technical skills to do the jobs created by the knowledge economy."

"We're looking forward to working closely with our corporate sponsors so that the technologies developed will be of value to the future of the mobile phone industry and that Brunel students will play a major part in shaping that industry." concludes Prof Balachandran.

Dr Chris Winters, CEO of BT's highly successful incubator arm, Brightstar, goes further: "We're heading into one of the most revolutionary stages of the evolution of mobile communications. Engineering students from across the globe are building entire new wireless infrastructures that will change the way society communicates. Students on the mobile phone course at Brunel will be perfectly placed to join others in leading innovation and shaping the future. Ultimately it's a great initiative, underpinning the partnership between academia and business to provide real-world solutions in communications of the future.

For more information on Brunel University, or to speak with Professor Wamadeva Balachandran, please contact Robin Grainger or Lucy Fielden on Tel: 0208 956 2648/2303 or email robin@fusepr.com / lucy@fusepr.com