QS has teamed up with Warwick University’s innovative Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) to offer an exciting new scholarship for international students interested in developing their leadership potential within the engineering management sector. The new Warwick Scholarship for Engineers into Management is aimed at international students from an engineering, scientific or technical background, who are keen to gain management skills and knowledge through one of the department’s innovative, industry-focused master’s programs.
An exclusive scholarship for international students
Exclusively available to attendees of the QS World Grad School Tour, the scholarship is for overseas fee-paying students only. It covers 60% of international tuition fees for one of the 11 engineering management master’s degrees taught at WMG, which include specializations such as cyber security, manufacturing systems, project management, innovation and entrepreneurship, logistics management, service design and e-business management.
Catherine Fawcett, WMG recruitment and marketing manager, explains that while the university offers many scholarships, this scholarship for international students in engineering management is a particularly substantial one. She adds that WMG is especially keen to help support overseas students, in order to promote and sustain the international diversity which is already a well-established feature of the center.
“We already have 65 different nationalities studying here with us, and that very cosmopolitan environment is extremely rich in terms of what it gives both to the students and to the university. We want to encourage the best and brightest young engineers to apply – from all backgrounds, sectors, thought processes and experiences.”
Nurturing tomorrow’s industry leaders
Part of the UK’s University of Warwick (ranked among the world’s top 100 universities), WMG was established in 1980 with the vision of forging closer relationships between academia and industry. Today, it’s a world-leading research center, as well as offering a selection of innovative undergraduate, graduate and professional courses – all with a strong emphasis on close collaboration with businesses and industry leaders.
“We partner with hundreds of companies,” Catherine explains. “We’re working very closely with huge industrial organizations, as well as small to medium-sized businesses, and all of our tutors have business or industry experience. We consult extensively with these contacts when designing courses, to make sure the content is really relevant both for the workplace and for future research.”
WMG currently offers 11 different MSc programs, requiring varying degrees of technical knowledge. Their shared aim is to help develop the next generation of industry leaders, producing graduates with both the technical knowledge and leadership skills necessary to take on engineering management roles in a variety of technology-focused organizations.
Innovative teaching methods
Teaching at WMG is mostly in small classes, with students working together in even smaller teams to apply their learning to real-life situations and case studies. Each program has a combination of compulsory and elective modules, allowing students to tailor the course content to match their own desired specializations. These taught modules account for 50% of course credits, with the second half comprised of an independent research project or dissertation, often based on a real business situation.
“We don’t want students to come and just listen,” Catherine says. “We’re really encouraging them to apply knowledge to real situations, so they can get a very deep grasp of how the business world works and how industry works, and so they can learn how to create change and become leaders. We’re looking for people to develop a really good degree of self-sufficiency.” She adds that the level of specialization and expertise students develop is “a massive door-opener in terms of career opportunities.”
Is this scholarship for you?
Around half of WMG master’s students come straight from an undergraduate degree, with the rest typically having gained between one and eight years’ professional experience. While the majority are from an engineering, technology or scientific background, some are also looking to transfer from business and corporate roles into the industrial sector.
“We’re looking for people who have a high level of academic achievement already, who are highly motivated and who have an idea of what they’d like to do in the future and an understanding of how a master’s at WMG will take them on to the next level,” Catherine says. “We don’t expect applicants to know absolutely everything, and of course they might change direction, but we’re looking for people with that level of motivation and maturity, to really become strong industry leaders.”
Applications for the Warwick Scholarship for Engineers into Management must be submitted before 1 May 2014. Apply now >