Implementing CDIO – Revolution or Evolution?

While the CDIO standards and syllabus give a strong framework upon which to develop good quality engineering programmes, the exact means by which Universities and Colleges implement these is often less clear. Within the UK and Ireland CDIO region most institutions have gradually evolved their programmes to meet the CDIO standards. At Aston University we have instead, for local reasons, opted for a rapid step-change to create a swift and revolutionary change within our programmes. This was done for a number of purely educational reasons to ensure our students could get an enhanced learning experience from a very early stage. There were also however other considerations which influenced the nature of our approach including being able to make a bold statement of intent to academic and executive staff within the University. While this methodology has reaped significant rewards it has not been a painless experience.This paper will outline some aspects of our own experience and the decision making processes used while examining a number of other strategies from around the CDIO community.