A SHIFT IN FOCUS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION: TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE EXPANDING ROLES OF ENGINEERS

DS 83: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE16), Design Education: Collaboration and Cross-Disciplinarity, Aalborg, Denmark, 8th-9th September 2016

Year: 2016
Editor: Erik Bohemia, Ahmed Kovacevic, Lyndon Buck, Christian Tollestrup, Kaare Eriksen, Nis Ovesen
Author: Shekar, Aruna; Karmokar, Sangeeta
Series: E&PDE
Institution: Massey University
Section: External Collaboration
Page(s): 412-416
ISBN: 978-1-904670-62-9

Abstract

Historically, engineering educators have focused mainly on technical competencies, but now there is a
shift in focus to include much broader areas of social, economic, ethical and environmental
dimensions. The role of engineers in society is expanding to include a consideration of both technical
and less-technical areas, and significant issues such as the impact of their solutions and their
maintainability. The present role and perception of design in the engineering curriculum has improved
markedly in recent years. Practitioners and academics are making constant efforts to include more
design in engineering by including design thinking, systems thinking and systems design methods.
The engineering curriculum has a strong foundation of science and mathematics, analytical and
convergent thinking. Design brings in divergent and lateral thinking. Combining the two forms of
thinking provides a balanced approach to problem solving. Taking this approach further, how do we
extend this to the wider community? The Triple Helix model (Figure 1) is increasingly seen as a
catalyst to adding value to projects in the form of social, cultural, environmental or economic returns.
Increased prominence has been given to the role of universities in stimulating economic growth
through industry related research, technology commercialisation and high-tech spin-offs but it is not
always easy for universities to accommodate these changes. So, how do we incorporate the value of
community, government and industry and blend them into engineering education? This paper draws
on existing literature related to hybrid education to focus on developing an education system that cuts
across both organisational and disciplinary boundaries. Finally, the paper lists some of the open
research questions that must be answered to identify best pedagogical practices of improving
engineering through triple helix model.

Keywords: Engineering Education, Triple Helix Model, Product Design.

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