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Session Description

Free ticketed event
The Problem: The terminology of “soft vs. hard” skills emerged in the middle of the twentieth century as part of an effort to systematically develop and assess leadership development in the military. It originally differentiated between domain-specific abilities that become obsolete because of technical advancement (such as repairing aircraft engines) and abilities that could be used in many domains and did not become obsolete over time (such as driving or handling paperwork). The integration of non-technical competencies into engineering education implied in the EC 2000 criteria (such as an ability to communicate or work effectively on teams) spurred widespread use of the term “soft skills” in engineering education. Despite ample and proven intellectual resources and pedagogical approaches for integrating the humanities and social sciences (HSS) into engineering education, most engineering students still meet their HSS requirements with stand-alone courses that make no connection to engineering. This workshop aims to increase awareness of the advantages of humanistic education adapted specifically for engineering students and, at least as importantly, to increase the number of faculty who are motivated and equipped to design and deliver such education.

Primary Audience: Administrators and faculty in engineering disciplines who want to develop professional skills efficiently and systematically in their curricula but don’t see how those abilities connect with disciplinary expertise outside of engineering or (2) know how to find faculty in the humanities and social sciences who are interested in and equipped to contribute to engineering education.

Secondary Audience: Humanists and social scientists who are curious about how they might become equal partners and valued contributors in engineering education but don’t see how to connect their disciplinary expertise with engineering. This audience includes instructors in engineering communication who would like to deepen their understanding of engineering practice so they can more concretely convey the value of communication ability (broadly defined) in an engineering career.

Objectives:

• Empower both audiences to collaborate with each other more effectively and to design and deliver creative, effective humanistic education adapted to the needs and interests of engineering students
• Connect professional skills with disciplinary knowledge and rigorous approaches to develop and assess them, thus rendering them more clearly defined as university-level academic subjects

Speakers

1. Dr. Kathryn A. Neeley

   University of Virginia

   Kay Neeley (BA, English, minor in history; MA and PhD, English) is an expert in humanistic education for engineers with an emphasis on communication as both an area of specialization and the ultimate interdisciplinary subject. She served twice as chair of the Liberal Education/Engineering and Society Division of ASEE, and received that division’s Olmsted Award for Outstanding Contributions to Liberal Education for Engineers. Her supervision of literally thousands of undergraduate theses in engineering has allowed her to develop a broad perspective on engineering. She played a leading role in articulating role of the humanities and social sciences in engineering education as defined in the EC2000 Criteria and identifying the need for and challenges of taking an integrated approach to humanistic education for engineers. Her recent research has focused on the history of humanistic education with an emphasis on the recurring rediscovery of humanistic education as a means of bridging the gap between engineering education and practice. She was an editor of and contributor to Liberal Education for Twenty-First Century Engineering: Responses to ABET/EC 2000 (2004) and has published extensively in the Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education.

2. Coleen M Carrigan

   University of Virginia

   Kay Neeley (BA, English, minor in history; MA and PhD, English) is an expert in humanistic education for engineers with an emphasis on communication as both an area of specialization and the ultimate interdisciplinary subject. She served twice as chair of the Liberal Education/Engineering and Society Division of ASEE, and received that division’s Olmsted Award for Outstanding Contributions to Liberal Education for Engineers. Her supervision of literally thousands of undergraduate theses in engineering has allowed her to develop a broad perspective on engineering. She played a leading role in articulating role of the humanities and social sciences in engineering education as defined in the EC2000 Criteria and identifying the need for and challenges of taking an integrated approach to humanistic education for engineers. Her recent research has focused on the history of humanistic education with an emphasis on the recurring rediscovery of humanistic education as a means of bridging the gap between engineering education and practice. She was an editor of and contributor to Liberal Education for Twenty-First Century Engineering: Responses to ABET/EC 2000 (2004) and has published extensively in the Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education.

3. Dr. James F. Groves

   University of Virginia

   James Groves (Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering,1998;M.S. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, 1992; B.S.E. cum laude, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Political Science) is a leading university educator in the field of sustainable development. In the classroom he engages with students across disciplines and educates them about sustainable energy systems. His overarching goal is to help "people and planet" avoid the worst impacts of humanity's ever-increasing hunger for "more power"! Recent instructional efforts in this arena include Introduction to Sustainable Energy Systems and The Global Context of Clean Energy Materials. Nationally, Dr. Groves is a significant contributor to the Engineering for One Planet initiative.
   
   James Groves' scholarly interests include a focus upon the impacts of climate change upon the mid-Atlantic region. He is currently developing an engineering ethics case study related to his local climate change research. He is also keenly interested in the people and planet impacts of using engineered materials for sustainable energy solutions. As society transitions to clean energy, will its thirst for the needed materials lead to new, devastating human and environmental impacts?

4. Dr. Sergio Guillen P.E.

   University of Virginia

   Sergio Guillén Grillo (B.Eng, Mechanical Engineering; M.A., Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding; Ph.D., Policy and Governance, democratic deliberation; graduate certificate in Natural Resources Organization) has worked as a dialogue facilitator, environmental governance practitioner, and renewable energy investment manager throughout Latin America for over 30 years. He has taught over 1,500 hours of university-level courses with a focus on interpersonal and problem solving skill development (negotiation, conflict resolution, sustainability, leadership, and professional ethics). His training in diverse approaches to interpersonal skill development includes: international certification in conflict mediation, accreditation in engineering & architecture conflict conciliation, training in public participation and engagement in complex scenarios, and training in nonviolent communication, reflexive structured dialogue, and process facilitation.

   The presenters and facilitators are all on the faculty of the Department of Engineering and Society in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia. The department was established in the 1930s as part of a national effort to provide humanistic education that meets the needs and interests of engineers and is the only department established as part of that effort that still exists today.