Student to engineer - easing the transition by way of the final-year design project : engineering education

In 2014 an innovative approach was followed with the final-year structural engineering design project at Stellenbosch University, in which students had the tough task of designing a glass-processing facility. Th e lessons learnt (both by the students and lecturers), challenges, successes and thoughts for the future are discussed in this article as we contemplate how to produce structural engineering graduates who are well equipped for the design office. Items such as site visits, oral presentations to practicing engineers, YouTube videos, marshmallow and spaghetti models, and a lot of hard work helped create an interesting project (and hopefully better engineers for our society).