Students studying engineering are commonly disconnected from new and current sustainable technologies being researched and implemented in their respective sectors. This lack of awareness in graduate students delays innovation in industry, as their initial inputs and work will be based on older, less sustainable practices. Inevitably, this is caused by the lack of credited and industry-specific teaching on emerging sustainable technologies within universities. This includes the lack of teaching focused on the design of sustainable systems.
Whereas the absence of innovative academic research in a format that is suitable for students and those new to specialised fields, exacerbates this disconnect. Therefore, this research should be made more readily accessible and provide relevant resources to aid in the development and design using these technologies, so that the progression of these sustainable technologies into the industry may be more efficient.
The reasons that very little subject-specific information is provided to students may be due to a lack of demand for this type of teaching, lecturers and university leads not knowing of the demand for this focused teaching, or a lack of resources for departments.
Thus, awareness for the need of this teaching in possible and current engineering students must be increased, and provision of this information must be made available, be it through corporate collaboration with universities or guidance from governing and accrediting bodies (e.g. ICE, IStructE, and IMechE).
To do this we will campaign (via social media) and request directly (via emails and petitions) for universities to provide this education as an additional or optional module, and for industry leaders/researchers to aid in providing relevant material for this teaching. We will also provide a platform to showcase these innovative technologies for specific industries in a format suitable for high school and university students.
I have read through your concept note. I really like the idea that professional engineers will be more likely to specify (sustainable) innovative technology if they attain a greater awareness of emerging products and systems and the reassurance from research and studies during university.
What research did you do to identify the disconnect? Why do you think engineering studies are very traditional? Do you think this affects the type of people who apply to study engineering or reinforces the idea of what an engineer does? Would your proposal have other positive benefits, increasing the diversity of ideas?
Did you find any courses at other universities that seek to modernise the curriculum and showcase sustainable technologies which could provide a model?
Do you think education linked to innovative products would also encourage and motivate more engineering students to become entrepreneurs who seek to develop sustainable technology?
I like the idea of a platform to showcase new technology. Have you thought about how you would fund and maintain the platform? Would the funding model affect who had access?
Have you talked about how to maintain curiosity for and awareness of new sustainable technologies once you enter the workforce? Chartered engineers are required to undertake hours of continuing professional development each year. How do the Engineering institutions such as ICE and IStructE support the promotion of sustainable development and new technologies?