The concept was pioneered by
Alexander Russell, a Scottish electrical engineer and educator, in the early 20th century. It was articulated in a 1945 report by the
Ministry of Education in the United Kingdom which advocated those attending courses at technical colleges would receive a new kind of education in which theoretical studies and industrial training would be interwoven. The term "sandwich" was used in a 1950 National Advisory Council on Education for Industry and Commerce report on possible developments within the further education sector. The
Newcastle Polytechnic Bachelor of Arts degree in "Design for Industry" starting in 1953 was an early example of this kind, formerly a three-year "Industrial Design" degree. The new course with two additional terms for industrial placements, extended the degree to four years and popularised the term "sandwich course". At what is now
Brunel University,
Marie Jahoda was involved in establishing
psychology degree programmes including a four-year, thin-sandwich degree between 1958 and 1965.
Architectural education in the United Kingdom saw the introduction of sandwich courses in the 1960s.
Engineering education sometimes includes industry placement. Non-degree courses include those provided by
Air Service Training. Over time, sandwich courses became widespread in the United Kingdom. Sandwich courses are widespread in
France, and also exist in other countries such as
Australia,
Denmark (
Royal School of Library and Information Science),
India,
Norway (
optometry) and several countries in French-influenced Africa (
Françafrique), including
Cameroon, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and the
Republic of the Congo,
Ghana and
Nigeria. Some specific courses offered internationally are typically sandwich courses, such as
Master of IT in Business.
Alumni Alumni of the
Newcastle Polytechnic Bachelor of Arts degree in "Design for Industry" include
Rick Dickinson of Sinclair and
Jony Ive of Apple. Alumni of sandwich courses at other universities include:
Nicola Pellow of Leicester Polytechnic (now
De Montfort University) who was involved in work on the
World Wide Web in the early 1990s;
Nigel McGuinness who studied at the
University of Leicester and became a professional wrestler;
Veronica German, a politician, who studied at the
University of Birmingham;
Olga FitzRoy, an audio engineer and campaigner who studied at the
University of Surrey;
Paul Walsh who studied at
Manchester Polytechnic and became the
chief executive of
Diageo;
Alex Cartañá, a British-Spanish singer-songwriter and actress who studied at the
University of Westminster;
Russell Deacon who works in governance and policy and studied at the
University Glamorgan;
Sean Ekins, a
pharmacologist who studied at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic, now
Nottingham Trent University; Bunmi Olaye who studied at
University of East London and founded a luxury fashion brand,
Bunmi Koko;
Lorraine Gradwell studied a degree in Fashion Design and Management at Middlesbrough Art College and Hollins College in Manchester;
Colin Larkin who studied
typography and book design at the London College of Printing, now the
London College of Communication; several
alumni of Aston University; and
Élise Delzenne a French former professional road and track
racing cyclist who studied at
ENSAIT in France. ==Popularity==