Engineering Design
The following teaching ideas are suitable for inclusion in Engineering Design courses
- Engineers Cannot Be Neutral
Engineering projects should be analysed using the three elements: Economic, Environmental and Social. In this example activity, students are asked to consider either a project they have worked on or a consumer product and assess where working on the development of this particular product will fall in terms of 'low or high environmental impact' and whether it is meeting 'a basic human need' or is a 'luxury item'. The young engineer is made aware that their choices do impact a much larger picture.
This resource addresses the following points:
- Professional Ethics, Integrity, Responsibility and Accountability
- Communication
- Impact of Engineering on the Environment
- Developing a Global Perspective
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Reducing carbon emissions: some choices
The "Stabilization Wedges Game" is a team based activity. Students are asked to collate a portfolio of 'stabilization strategies' to avoid a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide over pre-industrial levels in the next 50 years, and assess their impacts and costs. Each team is judged on its ability to defend its portfolio of strategies in a 5 min oral report, considering both capacity constraints and social (political and economic) impacts of each technology. The team with the highest scoring stabilization triangle wins.
This resource addresses the following points:
- Analysis with Uncertainty
- System Thinking
- Critical Thinking
- Oral Presentation and Inter-Personal Communications
- Contemporary Issues and Values
- Developing a Global Perspective
