Preliminary Work on Weaving Professionalism Throughout the Engineering Curriculum

Engineers-in-Residence Programs as a Framework for Industry Engagement in Undergraduate Engineering Education: Challenges and Opportunities

“…The EIR program at Colorado State University brings engineering professionals to campus as volunteers to interact with students within laboratory environments [8]. Students see significant value in their increased face-toface exposure to industry, and EIRs find value in giving back to the community and potentially recruiting promising graduates [8].…”

“…To overcome financing challenges, there have been instances of industry partners collaboratively funding a position that directly benefits their industry sector, for example an Aerospace EIR in Manitoba [9]. Depending on how the EIR program is integrated within the curriculum or faculty/department, not all students are exposed to an EIR or have the opportunity to work with an EIR [8].…”

“…Engineerin-Residence (EIR) programs can provide a direct link to real world industry exposure within curricular programming. EIR programs and positions have been established at various institutions around the world as a mechanism to provide role models to students, bridge the divide between university and engineering practice, help students secure work placement opportunities, provide mentorship to student teams, introduce legislation and professional engineering societies to students, and ultimately help develop engineering graduates who are better prepared to enter the workplace [5], [6], [8], and [9]. The programs are ultimately driven when the institution sees industry engagement as a critical part of the culture and making the engineering program successful [5].…”

“…EIRs are also well equipped to help students understand the value of important, but often overlooked professional skills such as: teamwork, communication, professional ethics, etc. [6] and [8]. EIRs may also be responsible for developing and fostering relationships with stakeholders from industry, community, and government, including: building case studies, and organizing site visits and guest speakers [5].…”

Listening to Community Voices as Part of Ethical Civil Engineering: Experiences in Civil Engineering Courses

“…It was hypothesized that listening to community voices would contribute to achieving sustainability learning outcomes in the affective domain [7]. Listening is perhaps best taught in a cohesive approach that is integrated through the curriculum, similar to other professional skills taught 'across the curriculum' including ethics [49,50], sustainability [51,52], communication [53,54], and professionalism [55]. Therefore, this research integrated the concept of the importance of listening to community members into three civil engineering courses taught by the author.…”