Educating Engineers to Make a Difference

Abstract

Graduates set out from university to navigate their own unique lifetime voyages through a rapidly changing, increasingly competitive and unpredictable world. Given all the uncertainties and infinite range of possible outcomes, how can universities—and indeed schools—best help them? The answer is to equip them with the knowledge and skills to “make a difference”. Be it acknowledgment from their clients, leaders, peers or subordinates—others valuing their contribution will ease their pathway and open up new opportunities. Engineering graduates themselves recognise that existing curricula often result in competency gaps in business understanding and work processes. Engineering curricula could fill these gaps through problem based learning projects based on executive-relevant business problems. However, this should not be to the detriment of providing a solid grounding in core engineering concepts. Industry case studies drawn from the mining industry are used to introduce how such an approach might work in providing foundation level understanding of, for example, the following competencies to an undergraduates thinking process:

• Effectively working with other people

• Methodical problem solving

• Business understanding and planning

• Financial modelling

• Risk and opportunity analysis

• Sustainable development

• The stage-gate project development process

• Communication to achieve outcomes