Abstract:
Serious concerns expressed by the academic community over the plight
of Mechanical Engineering industry and the apparent failure of University
programmes to meet the challenges posed are discussed. The question
is posed whether it is the vicious cycle formed by weak industry
supported by unimaginative academic programmes, which in tem are
fuelled by the former. An effort is made to identify salient characteristics
of performing Mechanical Engineering academic programmes and the
growth drivers along with the characteristics of performing Mechanical
Engineering Industries and their growth drivers through an analysis of
domain leaders and to extend these for the local context. We try to
discover a meaningful role for the mechanical Engineer in charting a
development path for Sri Lanka. Bold steps for an aggressive programme
to force a reverse flow of high value-added industrial products is
proposed with details from a topical sector. Inability/inflexibility of policy
makers to respond positively to turns of events in the country’s socioeconomic
context is seen as a major obstacle to rapid industrial growth.
We try to demonstrate how these constitute more important
preoccupations for us than for industrialised countries. In this context
[Fletcher, 2000] describes the constant pressure on course developers of
the West thus, “the significant involvement of mechanical engineers in the
development of new technologies, and in turn, the impact of these
technologies on the world economy suggests that mechanical
engineering education programs must be modernised to reflect the needs
of the future. ... Mechanical engineering education programs must
accommodate the changing technological and industrial environment and
continue to provide a forum for intellectual growth in the next century.”
‘The traditional science-based theory courses, which are likely to be a
part of engineering for the coming decade, give us engineering analysts.
However, practice-based, well-implemented design and manufacture
courses, give us the additionally important *professional component" of
mechanical engineering [Henderson, 2000].”
