Practice Exchange & Partnerships
The Faculty of Engineering is home to award-winning educators and researchers whose work shapes engineering education in the UK and beyond.
Through the Centre for Engineering Education (CEE), we bring people together — connecting ideas, expertise and experience to improve how engineering is taught and learned.
Whether you’re looking for a keynote speaker, an expert advisor, or a partner for educational innovation, CEE can help you connect with the right people across the Faculty.
Practice Exchange: learning through collaboration
A core part of what we do is Practice Exchange — creating opportunities for educators to share, test and develop new approaches to teaching, both within Sheffield and with external partners.
These exchanges take many forms, from visiting speakers and joint workshops to longer-term collaborations that lead to new ideas, projects and research.
Below are a few examples of how Practice Exchange works in practice.
- Case Study 1 - Practice Exchange: Building connections between Sheffield’s engineering educators
In 2025, the Centre for Engineering Education launched a collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University to bring together engineering educators from across the city.
Two informal Practice Exchange events created space for colleagues to share teaching ideas, explore challenges and learn from one another in a supportive, discussion-based setting.
The first exchange, hosted in the Diamond, included short talks on topics such as bioengineering labs, spreadsheet-based approaches to finite element analysis, inclusive teamwork, and the interdisciplinary MEE Project Weeks. These sparked lively conversations about how similar ideas could be adapted in different teaching contexts.
A reciprocal event at Sheffield Hallam continued the dialogue, introducing further innovations including low-fidelity simulations for lab preparation and digitally enhanced learning activities.
Participants valued the opportunity to meet peers working on similar problems, compare experiences and build relationships beyond their own institutions. These exchanges showed how powerful it can be to share early-stage ideas in an open, informal environment — often leading to new collaborations and fresh approaches to teaching.
- Case Study 2 - Practice Exchange: Visiting educator from the University of New South Wales
In 2025, CEE hosted Dr Darson Li from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) as part of an international Practice Exchange focused on engineering education and curriculum innovation.
During his visit to Sheffield, Dr Li spent two days meeting educators from across the Faculty and exploring how teaching and learning happens in The Diamond. He was introduced to colleagues working in design, make and test, aerospace projects and engineering design, allowing both sides to compare approaches and identify areas of shared interest.
Dr Li also took part in an internal CEE session and led a well-attended EATS (Engineering and Teaching Shorts) lunchtime seminar, where he shared his work on using file metadata to help detect plagiarism. This sparked discussion across the Faculty and opened up new possibilities for future collaboration.
The exchange was designed to mirror the kind of academic generosity that supports international learning — showing visitors what Sheffield does well, while also bringing back fresh ideas and perspectives. Follow-up conversations are continuing, with plans to develop joint educational research and further exchanges between the two institutions.
Our specialists
CEE works with a wide network of education-focused staff across the Faculty, including:
- Principal Fellows of the HEA
- National Teaching Fellows
- Academic leads in engineering education
- Specialists in curriculum design, assessment, inclusion and digital learning
Here are some of our experts:
Senior University Teacher in Engineering Management
Multidisciplinary Engineering Education Director of Research and Innovation
Co-Director of the Centre for Engineering Education
Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Technical Team Leader, Multidisciplinary Engineering Education
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Senior University Teacher, Multidisciplinary Engineering Education
Faculty of Engineering Coordinator for Co-Curricular Activities
Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Director of Education, School of Computer Science
Accreditation and Professional Institution Lead
Head of Teaching Specialists Group
Senior University Teacher, Aerospace Engineering
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Senior University Teacher, Multidisciplinary Engineering Education
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Head of Multidisciplinary Engineering Education
Professor of Engineering Education
Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Senior University Teacher, Robotics
Director of Education, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Senior University Teacher, School of Computer Science
Deputy School Director of Education
Senior University Teacher, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
University Teacher, School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
University Teacher, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Co-Director of the Centre for Engineering Education
Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
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International postgraduate taught scholarships
We're offering scholarships worth up to £3,000 to international students joining the University to study a taught masters programme in September 2026.