SOFT SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Preamble
Mechanical Engineering is one of the diverse disciplines of engineering. A mechanical engineer (ME) performs various roles in his/her professional career. Some of the key roles in which a ME works include designing, testing, manufacturing operating and maintaining mechanical systems. They are expected to perform the technical and managerial tasks along with several other tasks including problem solving, team building, team leading etc. In order to perform his/her duties a mechanical engineer will interact with several other departments/personals of an industry such as quality, material handling, finance, sales, suppliers, customers and service providers. To perform the above stated tasks a ME should be strong enough in several soft-skills including communication, presentation, negotiation, conflict management, problem solving, decision making, team management, leadership, multitasking etc.
The above listed soft-skills along with sound technical skills are what every industry seeks in a potential candidate for hiring. Technical skills are what graduates learn during their bachelor’s study in a university, while graduates learn soft-skills with their experiences in the industry and therefore the industry usually complaint about the lack of soft-skills in the fresh graduates of any technical university/institute.
Mechanical Engineering Department (MED) of NED University of Engineering and Technology is aiming to improve penetration of its graduates in the domestic as well as in the international market and has set a task titled,
MAKE NEDIANS PREFERRED CHOICE OF INDUSTRY
To accomplish the above stated task the department has taken number of initiatives. Soft-skills development is one of the initiatives of this kind. The initiative of soft-skills development is first of its kind in the history of NED University. The initiative was well received by the Industrial Advisory Board of MED especially the efforts of Mr. Abbas Sajid (CEO Engineering Consultant) are commendable in this regard.
Programme Introduction
MED has planned to conduct eight workshops on various soft-skills. It will be a non-credit workshop which will be compulsory to attend for the completion of bachelor’s degree in MED. The topics are finalized and approved by the IAB of MED. There will be one workshop in each semester. The students will be comprehensively examined according to the established assessment criteria of the department. A certificate will be awarded upon the successful completion of each workshop.
| Year | Semester | |||
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | |||
| Course Code | Course Title | Course Code | Course Title | |
| First Year | SK-101 | Communication & Presentation Skills | SK-102 | Problem Solving & Decision Making |
| Second Year | SK-201 | Confidence Building & Self Motivation | SK-202 | Team Building & Leadership Skills |
| Third Year | SK-302 | Conflict Management | SK-301 | Negotiation Skills |
| Final Year | SK-401 | Working Under Pressure, Emotional Intelligence & Multi-tasking | SK-402 | Resume Writing & Appearing in Interview |