University to lead European Masters engineering course

In three years' time engineering graduates and others working in the field will be able to start a European Masters degree in heat treatment and surface engineering coordinated by the University of Malta.

The university has secured more than €600,000 from the EU's Socrates programme for the project. The money will be used over the coming two years to design the course.

Malta's university has teamed up with four partner universities in Germany, Hungary, the UK and Romania, and a number of enterprises, including SMEs, in both the UK and Romania.

Maurice Grech, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said the project's primary aim was to merge the expertise and strengths of the academic and industrial partners to design a post-graduate study programme.

Speaking during a press conference at the University yesterday, Prof. Grech pointed out that surface engineering was a major strength within the faculty of engineering and one in which the local university had invested considerably in the last decade.

He explained that heat treatment and surface engineering modifies the surfaces of engineering components to improve them and render them more feasible as well as extend their lifetime.

Prof. Grech, who is coordinating this project, said the Masters' degree would equip students with comprehensive knowledge in the field, adding that the target groups were engineering graduates and people working in the sector.

The course is divided into a number of standalone modules each requiring two weeks of intensive study. Students could opt to study those particular modules that they are interested in.

The programme's technical evaluator, Tom Bell, who is a world authority on surface engineering, said the programme had potential for wide dissemination and would achieve trans-national quality assurance of curriculum and widespread recognition.

University rector Juanito Camilleri said the local university was a major player in the field of heat treatment and surface engineering and it was opportune to use this strength to launch such a programme.