Course overview
This course introduces learners to the engineering profession with the goal of fostering vital personal and professional skills for sustainable engineering practice. Learners will develop their identity as modern engineers, contributing collaboratively to sustainable and equitable communities. Emphasising the interdisciplinary nature of engineering, themes include intercultural competence and collaboration with First Nations peoples, professional conduct and skills, effective communication, the engineering method from problem formulation through the complete life cycle, ideation and critical assessment of solutions (including critical evaluation of sustainability and socio-economic aspects), alongside basic project management strategies and processes. These themes are explored through team and project-based learning activities.
- Professional Skills
- Professional Responsibility
- Professional Development
Course learning outcomes
- Describe the role of the professional engineer in modern society, identify important attributes of professional engineers, and develop a professional development plan that draws on an evaluation of their own personal strengths and weaknesses with respect to these attributes
- Demonstrate an awareness of engineering as a socio-technical profession including the sustainable, environmental, safety, economic, ethical and diverse social, cultural and global contexts in which it is practiced and critically evaluate proposed engineering solutions using these perspectives
- Explain the engineering method from problem formulation through the complete life-cycle, and apply the engineering method to generate and assess ideas and solution alternatives
- Integrate cultural awareness of Aboriginal ways of knowing into engineering practice, fostering inclusive collaboration and respectful engagement with First Nations communities
- Develop effective, inclusive teamwork skills and apply basic project management principles to engineering problems
- Practice professional conduct and develop professional reflection, locate and appropriately reference reliable and relevant sources of information, demonstrate written, oral and graphical communication skills appropriate for academic and professional engineering contexts