My colleague Diana Martin wanted to attend this year’s American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference in Portland, so I submitted a proposal to organize a panel on our forthcoming Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education. The panel got accepted but Diana couldn’t travel—thus I made the trip alone.
Traveling solo forced me out of my shell (I don’t chat much with strangers when traveling).
Another benefit was that, since Diana had insisted on flying via Seattle, I saw the Pacific Northwest scenery for the first time.
Oregon marketing is catchy!
I scheduled myself a day upon arrival, before the conference started, to adjust to the time zone (but it took much more than a day). I’d booked a “shoebox” room at a hip hotel in a shabby-but-central neighborhood and I had the great fortune of arriving after all the shoeboxes were occupied.
I got upgraded to a spacious and luxurious room at the Hoxton in Chinatown! Although I wouldn’t recommend the Hoxton’s location for a woman traveling solo due to the night scene on the surrounding streets, I kept my wits about me and used high levels of caution, and I cane through unscathed. I took an Uber after my division’s evening social the last night because the sun was setting, making it too late to risk walking alone.
Dramatic scenery off the tip of my Alaska Air wing. Saturday-Sunday market in Portland. City hall. Dramatic plaza with (breakfast!) food trucks. Lovely parks……with canopies of trees and twinkling lights. Visited Portland’s art museum……for sneakers……and French modernists. Cezanne!
With the extra day, I got to explore the city a bit before ASEE kicked off.
My hotel, right at the gate to Chinatown. What a luxurious room!The hip lobby……with books galore……a ground floor bar……but teensy, weensy breakfast. The plant was a nice touch. Plenty of space to work!Design touches in the corridors……and elevators……as well as in the room. Nice little touches from Aongus, too!The restaurant on the roof has a fabulous view……even though I missed the nights the hotel’s speakeasy was open. A view toward Mt. Hood.Some tasty food.
I bit the bullet and paid $16 to enter the Chinese Garden, after the $25 to visit the modern art. Expensive! But very interesting!
I also wandered the streets in the Pearl District.
I found my way to the city’s hilltop park, with its Holocaust monument and Rose Garden. My calendar alerts pulled me back to reality. Before I could enter the Japanese Garden, I had to scurry to the conference center by bus.
The best part of every ASEE, to me, is the Division Mixer, followed by Taste of the Town, on opening night. It’s the best time to find everyone in one place.
With friends from SEFI Summer School, Xiaoqi Feng and Hanna Aarnio, and Michael Loui, former chief editor of JEE.With Nicole Pitterson, my co-editor for a forthcoming special issue of IEEE Transactions on Education.A colleague I met at REES in India in January. A lecture by Cindy Atman. Colleagues I met at ASEE last year (Lazlo), EERN in Belfast (Bridget), REES in Hubli and Summer School in Windsor (Sid and Zach).Ashish, who I first met at REES in Cape Town win a major award!
The main reason I made the trip was to meet with the authors of the ethics handbook. The conference organizers provided a very snall room in a satellite building, so the audience really had to work to locate us. But some found the way, as did our authors. About 20 (of our 105 authors) attended this 2024 ASEE conference and 15 served in our panel. It was truly delightful to meet them all—many for my first time!
I know their work though—and I have read, and copy edited, every one of their chapters. Such exceptional work they contributed!
Here’s who presented chapter number (section number and chapter topic included:
Kari Zacharias, 3(1) individual and collective
Jeff Brown, 5(1) professional organizations and codes
Shannon Chance, 6(1) environment
Julianna Gesun, 10(2) psychological foundations
Susan Lord, 16(3) electrical and electronic engineering
Dayoung Kim, 17(3) chemical engineering
Stephanie Lunn, 18(3) software engineering
Madeline Polmear, 19(4) lit review of teaching methods
Aditya Johri, 20(4) case studies
Adetoun Yeaman with Bill Oakes, 23(4) service and humanitarian
Sarah Hitt, 24(4) arts-based
Adetoun Yeaman, 27(5) attitudes and character
Sarah Junaid, 30(5)
Rockwell Clancy, 31(5) behavior and culture
Sarah Junaid with Madeline Polmear, 33(6) contextual mapping
Madeline Polmear, 34(6) licensure
Jillian Seniuk Cicek, with Robyn Mae Paul and Donna Riley, 35(6) feminist critical analysis
Our ethics handbook panel……was highly informative.And here are all our panelists!
I attended sessions of the Ethics and Architectural Engineering divisions. I also took a walking tour with Architecture colleagues to study the bridges of Portland.
Steel Bridge has a vertical lift. We got to see a test lift of this vertical lift bridge. Here it’s coming back down into place. Here’s the walking group. A view across the river. Portland’s famous sign.
Overall, I enjoyed ASEE this year more than I had expected. It was a bit smaller than last year’s conference (when over 5000 people attended) and the smaller size was welcome. I also knew many of the PhD students who attended — far more than shown in the pics (Eugene, Luis, Siqing, Em)…. I either got carried away in the moment and neglected to take photographs, or some selfies I thought I took disappeared. (Or, maybe, my selfie thumb let me down!)
Until next time, the memories will have to do.
Here’s to a successful meet up! Maybe I’ll see you, too, next year at ASEE in Montreal?
Believe it or not, I’ve never visited Belfast. Well, I did once tour the Titanic Museum and the dry dock where the Titanic was constructed—was engineered. But I’ve never come to the city itself, and my subtle avoidance has stemmed from my Irish Republic ideals. For the sane reasons, Aongus has also never visited the city, despite living in this tiny island most of his life.
City Hall. Dumpling Library. Ulster University’s brand new building where we conveniened. Glimpses of Belfast.
Now, engineering has brought me to Belfast. The past couple of days, I’ve been part of the 2024 symposium of the Engineering Education Research Network (EERN) for the UK and Ireland.
Hats off to EERN bringing these countries together to celebrate and enhance engineering through meaningful education! EERN UK welcomed their Irish cousins in formally around a decade ago, updating their name to include both “sides” of Ireland.
Kicking off the event with organizers Alan and Roger. Sandra en route by train. Sandra Cruz presenting… …a data collection technique she’s used……and parts of her theoretical framework. This presentation by Jennifer S. Thompson and colleagues was fascinating!
Ulster University’s Alan Brown hosted us downtown—for two days of conversation “Beyond Boundaries: Inclusive, Sustainable and Outward Looking Engineering Education”. What a fabulous theme! Alan did a phenomenal job organizing and shepherding this event.
Prof Abel Nyamapfene from UCL……presenting research underway with Dr Nikita Hari and Prof John Mitchell. Dinner friends Shannon, Diana, Neil, Bridget, and Claudia. Visiting a pub together. A very sparkly place! My third visit to Dumpling Library. An unwelcome 4:20 AM surprise. I can’t recommend The Quarter by Warren. Took too long to resolve this false alarm.
During EERN, my PhD student Sandra Cruz presented a thread of her research, and Diana Martin and I facilitated a workshop/panel discussion on the forthcoming Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education withauthorsDr Sarah Hitt and Dr Natalie Wint.
The handbook panel facilitated by Diana Martin and myself, with author panelists Sarah Hitt and Nat Wint.
I caught up with dozens of people I’ve collaborated with in the past, and made new friends and colleagues who I’ll complete projects with in coming years.
I also discovered the beauty of Belfast. I immediately phoned Aongus when I arrived and discussed traveling here together in the fall.
The train journey here provided spectacular scenery and the city is lively and architecturally significant. There are also many lovely public spaces.
It’s nice to find new nooks and crannies to explore on this isle, and I have many adventures and collaborations to anticipate.
Learning about the Ethics and Sustainability Toolkit with Sarah Hitt and Emma Crichton. Birmingham’s Dr Holly Foss……discussing EDI……in staff recruitment.
Thanks Alan, Roger, Becky, Jane, EERN, and Ulster University for a top-notch platform for engaging discussion!
Four days of learning and laughing at Cumberland Lodge at the UK’s Great Windsor Park—the hallmarks of a great event!
The UCL Centre for Engineering Education (CEE) hosted the 2024 doctoral Summer School on engineering education research (EER). It was second doctoral Summer School delivered via SEFI, the European Society for Engineering Education. The first Summer School, held in 2022, was organized by SEFI Vice President Greet Langie, and conducted at the Irish College of KU Leuven in Belgium.
The UCL team organizing the 2024 event sought to provide a collaborative learning environment similar to 2022’s event. We selected Cumberland Lodge, a former royal residence dating back to the 17th century that is used today for educational programs for young people. The Lodge promotes discussions around ethics and social justice.
Cumberland Lodge is surrounded by the vast Windsor Great Park. Windsor Castle is located at one end of the Great Park, beside the village of Windsor. It is a spectacular place — a real joy to experience and a tranquil sanctuary just outside the borders of London.
Outside Cumberland LodgeKicking off the Summer SchoolInside Cumberland LodgeCumberland Lodge is glorious!
To facilitate the 2024 School, John Mitchell of UCL brought together current and past UCL staff. He also welcomed guest experts from the US and Australia who volunteered to help. Together, our team provided structured training for this year’s 29 PhD student-participants. The students are all working on research degrees in engineering education, and they travelled to Windsor from across Europe and indeed across the globe.
In addition to representing perspectives from various corners of Europe, participants also brought experiences living and studying in South Africa, Mexico, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Iran, the USA, and elsewhere!
Sid and our gang at the end of the week. Shannon, Sid, Diana M, and YashLuis gave me a truly lovely shirt (I’m wearing it while writing this blog post from a train in Ireland today!)Lots of break out discussion. A breakout with Diana B and Anne Gardner.
Overall, the UCL team hosting, organizing, and facilitating the 2024 Summer School included exemplars Prof. John Mitchell, Dr. Diana Adela Martin, Prof. David Guile, Dr. Natalie Wint, and our centre manager Helen Bhandri. UCL honorary appointees Dr. Inês Direito and I (Prof. Shannon Chance) also pitched in wholeheartedly, facilitating several sessions each and supporting sessions conducted by others by, for example, facilitating discussion in breakout groups. Inês is now employed at the University of Aveiro and I at TU Dublin, yet we are always treated as full member of the CEE team. John Mitchell is an incredible leader who enables us, helps keep us officially recognized as honorary (researcher and professor, respectively) and helps achieve cohesion across our team.
From beyond UCL, Prof. Greet Langie (SEFI Vice President) and Dr. Jan Peters, MBE (a consultant with Katalytick in the UK) provided informative and engaging sessions. Prof. Anne Gardner (an Associate Dean who is involved with the Australasian Association for Engineering Education, AAEE) and Dr. Diana Bairaktarova (Associate Professor at Virginia Tech) participated fully as well, and helped facilitate breakout groups throughout the week.
Diana M and Nat on ethics. Jan on finding your strengths.Shannon on research basics. Ethics activity with Cumberland Lodge staff. John Mitchell on EER publications. John on his career journey. Most all the 2024 Summer School participants.
Since finishing the event, the CEE team has received thank you notes from many of the participants. One came from Sid and another from Yash. They are studying at Purdue University, and I met them both at REES in India this past January.
Yash wrote to say that “As a first-year Ph.D. student and new entrant into the field, I felt warmly welcomed into the European Society of Engineering Educators and thoroughly absorbed in the program and its activities.” He praised “the design of the activities and the schedule,” which he said “offered a great balance of information and a chance to reflect and discuss with other members during the afternoon walks or even during the evening free time.”
Yash also loved the evening quiz that Diana Martin facilitated. She had contacted EER superstars and requested photos from their grad school days. Guessing their identities was a hoot, and Yash said the activity “was very creative and personally valuable because it gave me an opportunity to see [these well-known scholars] when they were my age or starting their careers in research.” He praised the way Diana, “filled the room with … energy and enthusiasm made the activity come to life” and I couldn’t agree more!
Yash described the value of elements from the workshops Inês and I conducted on literature reviews and positionality statements, as well, and also the sessions on ethics by Diana Martin, Nat Wint, and Cumberland Lodge staff.
During the week, I also delivered session on the structure of dissertations, differences in the way PhD education is structured around the Western world, conceptual and theoretical frameworks, and research paradigms — and another on incorporating gender considerations in your research and teaching. The first of these two sessions included small group discussions and a debate comparing the merits of qualitative and quantitative research.
John Mitchell and the UCL team provided guidance on selecting journals to publish in, preparing articles for publication, and conducting peer reviews. David Guille delivered a highly provocative session on “assembling your theoretical lens.” Earlier in the week, Greet provided the opening welcome to the school and a brief orientation to SEFI. Jan taught us about CliftonStrengths and facilitated a race-car-building competition.
David Guile on assembling theoretical lenses. Inês on positionality. Inês on literature review. Inês on literature review.The students brought home lots of notes!Grand stair at Cumberland Lodge.Another stair at Cumberland Lodge.Dining hall at Cumberland Lodge.Example accomodations at Cumberland Lodge.Example accomodations at Cumberland Lodge.Jan Peter’s presentation.Greet Langie’s welcoming address.Shannon and Diana aside the amazing Helen B. Welcoming participants with name tags and facilities orientation, our very own Helen B.
Near the end of the week, we provided a session where “all the organizers shared their journeys into the field of engineering education,” which Yash described as “very powerful. … Such exchanges are rare and provide a chance to view the person, the human being behind the researcher. It made me feel that I belong in this field of engineering education because I, too, share similarities and seeing someone who has become successful by overcoming similar challenges is very encouraging.”
I wish we had recorded these stories because they were so rich and heartfelt. A dozen participants came to me on the day following this journey session with thanks for our openness, collegial spirit, and willingness to share what they described as valuable insight.
An example was emailed to us by Alison from the University of Cape Town: “Thank you for a magnificent four days. I so appreciated being part of a community and learning from each of you…. I am inspired and excited to consolidate what I can contribute in South African engineering education…. I also SO appreciated each one of your stories and the way in which you demonstrated a complementary and accepting team – working to one another’s strengths – with space for others to contribute. It makes for an inviting and exhilarating ecosystem for us all to grow in.” High praise, indeed, and accurate!
Yash, Sid, and Alison have attended prior engineering education events, but some newcomers to our global EER community were part of this cohort, too — like Somayeh, who is currently studying at Umeå University. You may know that I have a distinct interest in supporting women from the Middle East who study engineering in Europe because I’ve come to know many at TU Dublin.
Somayeh is from Iran, although studying in Sweden today. She wrote “It was an honor for me to have a talk with you and be in your energetic class. I have learned a lot and [the experience] made me challenge myself and rethink about different aspects of my research.”
Following the event, I was delighted to hear from Somayeh’s PhD supervisors, Johanna and Maria. They emailed thanks to our team for taking great “care of our PhD student Somayeh during the summer school. She returned home with a lot of new knowledge, but also greater self-confidence, sense of belonging to the field, and sense of legitimacy as a PhD student. We knew she’d be in the best of hands, and we’d like you to know that your hard work has made a big difference for her (and us as supervisors)!” This I feel is the highest praise possible, and written by a scholar I admire immensely.
I loved my conversations with so many of the students — Luis, Julia, Hannah — the list goes on and on. So many fabulous memories!
It was a huge honor to be part of these emerging scholars’ education and to be so well received and appreciated. It was an invigorating week, and I learned tons myself!
It was also healthy. I enjoyed several enchanting walks through the forest with colleagues. I particularly enjoyed a long walk with Eugene, a PhD student who teaches engineering at a community college in California and studies at Purdue University, and another long walk with the whole cohort. The scenery of this park is spectacular and the conversations were deeply intriguing.
A walk and talk with Eugene. Twin smiles and shared passion for serving ‘non-traditional’ college students.Windsor Great Park. Diana, Diana, and Shannon at Windsor Great Park.Windsor Great Park.Facilitators with Somayeh.Windsor Castle in the distance. An impressive monument with astounding views.Pre-class dinner at Cumberland Lodge……with another impressive view!
The peaceful setting with fresh air, healthy food, and collegial banter brought out the best in us all. I will seek to return to this special place.
During the week, I had so much to do. I actually taught two online night classes for BIM students at TU Dublin — as part of my Research Methods module. I’m fortunate to have a knowledgeable colleague, Claire Simpson, helping me deliver the module (particularly since a storm dropped the Thursday night connection several times).
Cumberland Lodge took great care of me, preparing dinner plates Tuesday and Thursday, since my three-hour class overlapped dinner time in the Harry-Potteresque dining room.
Wrapping up the School with Inês and Diana B. Leaving Windsor village. Striking a pose on our way into the Windsor train station.Diana B’s first night ever in London! Hamming it up in Soho with Inês and Diana B.Neal’s Yard with my pals.Aongus found us at the Anchor! Nothing like a double-decker — see my friends up top.Working breakfast with Lelanie and Nicky.My South African colleagues.Brushing up on LEED for retrofit at the Building Centre with Aongus. Introducing Aongus to Jeremy Bentham when leaving UCL’s campus.
It’s been nine days since the Summer School ended, and honestly, I’m still a bit worn out! I did spend some time exploring London with Inês and Diana B after the School — after all, it was Diana’s first time in London!
And my fabulous partner, Aongus Coughlan join us and also came to meet my colleagues, Dr. Lelanie Smith and Dr. Nicky Wolmarans from South Africa down near the Engineers Professors Council on Savoy Street (before their two-day symposium on integrated engineering curriculum design, also organized by UCL’s CEE). Looking forward to seeing Lelanie and Nicky in South Africa in November 2025 (yes, we plan ahead!)!
In all, the School will go down in my memory as a highlight of 2024 and I couldn’t be happier that John Mitchell included me and that I got to work with this incredible cohort and facilitation team.
The global EDUCON conference, organized by IEEE (the institution for electrical and electronics engineers) is underway on Kos island, just off the coast of Bodrum, Turkey.
Great to convene with Dr Homero Murzi of Virginia Tech and current Chair of REEN!We didn’t have time to see the sites of Kos, but WOW, this island has archeology, architecture, and medical history galore!
I’m here this week with my colleagues Inês Direito (University of Aveiro and UCL), John Mitchell and Diana Martin (UCL). Across the four of us, we’re facilitating 5 of the 16 workshops scheduled for this conference.
Pics from our engineering ethics education handbook workshop — the first session of EDUCON 2024.
We’ve been having a great time connecting with colleagues from the University of Monterey (Mexico), EPFL (Switzerland), India, Singapore, across Europe and the Americas.
Dr Rucha Joshi, who I met in Hubli in January, and her fabulous momma! Just look at our dazzling smiles!
I had great fun interacting with participants at my grants and fellowships workshop, the systematic literature review session I delivered with Inês, the ethics handbook session I delivered with Diana, and supporting the publications and research design workshops spearheaded by John.
Snipet of the workshop on literature reviews with Dr Inês Direito.Prof John Mitchell’s session on designing an education experiment was hugely popular!A very helpful image on different ways of engaging with research to enable effective teaching, presented by John.
I’ve never attended EDUCON before and there’s a more technical bent to it than the more education research focused conferences I typically attend, so I met many new people in addition to reconnecting with friends I mead recently at REES (in India) and SEFI (locations across Europe).
One of our papers (that I co-authored with Inês and John and our colleague Dr Rob Lawlor) hit 10,000 downloads from the publisher’s website during EDUCON. Participants in the breakout group I facilitated for John’s workshop on IEEE publications were super enthusiastic about celebrating this achievement with me! They asked to take my picture—here’s our reenactment of that moment.😊😊😊😊😊
I’m headed home shortly, for end-of-academic-year wrap up and catching up on loads of tasks that have piled up while I was networking and collaboratively generating new knowledge. I’m full of inspiration and optimism!
I even met colleagues organizing the LACCEI conference I’ll attend in Costa Rica this summer, and coordinated to provide a couple extra workshops there, in addition to the papers my PhD student Sandra Cruz and I are delivering.
The grants and fellowships workshop was a ball—we all had good laughs.Bumping into Dr Jorge Torres Gomez (from Cuba and TU Berlin) during post-conference walk on the beach — a chance to further our discussion about bibliometrics forecasting and survey design. Farewell for now, Greece!
Portugal has vibrant networks of academics engaged in engineering education research. This week, I got to be part of that community, thanks to the generous support of the American Corner, on a four-night visit funded by the US Embassy in Portugal.
In and around the fabulous hotel, located on a canal in Aveiro’s historic center.
Flying into Portugal on Saturday morning, I settled in and toured the area over the weekend with my dear colleague (formerly of UCL) Inês Direito and her partner Gonçalo. Inês and I continually collaborate on research — and our bond grows stronger with each project and every passing year.
Snapshots of our explorations in Aveiro… Inês and Shannon always having a ball!
On Monday morning, I delivered a keynote address on “Boosting Engineering Education: How Research Can Make Engineering Education Better” and then facilitated a hands-on workshop on “Integrating Ethics, Sustainability, and Inclusion in Your Teaching.” In all this, I was the guest of honor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Aveiro (UA).
I was impressed that 25 teachers and students participated in these morning events, as they happened during a week without classes at UA. Despite having the flexibility to work from home this week, people traveled to campus from all across the engineering disciplines at UA — and visitors traveled in from Lisbon, Porto, and Setúbal to partake as well.
Images from campus, the keynote and workshop.
After lunch Monday, the Engineering Education Research team at UA and I headed to the administration building to meet with the university’s Vice-Rector for Research and an expert from UA’s Research Support Office. We discussed grant proposals and laid the foundation for upcoming initiatives that we plan to launch at UA.
Wrapping up that exciting meeting, we skipped across campus to the sleek, modern library, designed by Alvaro Siza, where the American Corner has a recording studio. In a session moderated by Inês, a few of us (Inês, Pedro Fonseca, Anikó Costa, and I) discussed what engineering education is, and why it is crucial for solving societal challenges in the 21st century. We also considered what role interdisciplinary collaboration plays in engineering education, and how can we, in higher education institutions, can facilitate it more effectively. Finally, we chatted about how interested people can get involved in engineering education research.
On air from the American Corner with Inês Direito.
On Tuesday, the EER team and I set to work refining our plans to secure funding for our projects. We had the treat of bumping into a pair of scholars who currently hold the type of grant we aim to secure, and they agreed to share their experience and insight with us. I’m looking forward to meeting them at the end of the summer to learn more!
Reflecting on the visit from the boarding gate at Porto airport, I realized that I’d had the most marvelous time in Aveiro. Every single person I met helped make the trip special—from the driver Casimiro, to Inês and Gonçalo, the hotel staff, Sandra the librarian in charge of the American Corner, to UA’s engineering education research team, the energetic and ever-smiling Robertt, Barbara, Inês, and Carla. Colleagues Bill and Val, and Val’s spouse Frank, all traveled from the Lisbon area for research meetings while I was there, helping make the experience that much more special!
Always learning, with Val, Inês, and Bill!
I am bursting with energy for our upcoming projects, and hopeful what the future might hold for our team.
You might be asking yourself why I went to India at the start of the New Year. As you may recall, I served on the global Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN) for five years. During that time I chaired REEN’s governing body but before I started chairing I served on a sub-committee to recruit and select host/locations for our Research in Engineering Education Symposium (REES).
Hosts of REES 2024 (and the upcoming REES 2025 that will be in El Paso). Can you feel the energy?IUCEE award winners for 2024. Sooooo many working in Idnad to improve engineering education!
REES is generally held every other year, and we go to locations around the globe. REES is a way to meet new people, extend our networks, practice new research skills, and share what we find as we research engineering education. The symposia help attendees learn about engineering education in new parts of the world and they help the community in each region where REES meets to gain momentum. REE Symposia help people entering the field of Engineering Education Research (EER) to meet people who have been doing EER longer.
Two of the main organizers of the conferences were Dr/Prof Vijayalakshmi M. (left) and Dr Preethi Baligar (right).The sessions were very well attended!
REEN was held in Honolulu (2007), Davos (2008), Queensland Australia (2009), Madria (2011), Kuala Lumpur (2013), Dublin (2015), Bogotá (2017), Cape Town (2019), Perth (2021), and now Hubli, India (January 4-6, 2024).
The REEN.co website explains that “provides a forum to share, discuss, disseminate, and propagate high-quality research and best practices through the Global Engineering Education Research community.”
Networking with the lovely and energetic Dipanwita Chakravarty (KLE Architecture) while touring the engineering research building at KLE Tech.Three past REEN chairs in one place! Teresa Hattingh, Shannon Chance, and Adam Carberry. Homero Murzi just took the role of chair on January 1, 2024.
REES 2024 was hosted by KLE Technological University (KLE Tech) in collaboration with the Indo-Universal Collaboration for Engineering Education (IUCEE). We met on KLE Tech’s B. V. Bhoomaraddi Campus in Vidyanagar, Hubballi, Karnataka, India.
We typically team up with the local national organization for engineering practitioners and/or engineering educators. KLE Tech staff are leaders of IUCEE and are leading the way in EER, research-based teaching, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL).
IUCEE is doing great things in India! It’s vision is “is to improve the quality and global relevance of engineering education in India” and to do this it seeks “to build an ecosystem for transforming engineering education in India with the assistance of engineering education experts and industry from around the world” (https://iucee.org/). The organization’s website is chock full of information with a vast number of events and activities featured every week on its homepage. Wow!
When I was on the REES selection committee, three scholars from India who are active in IUCEE applied to host a Symposium. That excellent proposal came from Krishna Vedula, Gopal Joshi, and Sohum Sohoni who I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years since we made that selection in 2018.
Sohum Sohoni at REES 2024.Krishna Vedula there on the left, rallying the troops!
IUCEE was launched in 2007 and today the organization has members from all over India, as well as from the Indian diaspora (all those brave folks who left India to work, study and live elsewhere in the world), like Sohum, who teaches engineering in the USA. I don’t know how many members IUCEE has, but LinkedIn shows 847 followers. Ooops! Add one more! I’m following now, and so can you: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indo-universal-collaboration-for-engineering-education/?originalSubdomain=in
REES workshop activities — see my colleagues Dr Ed Berger and Dr Mikita Hari there in the center, engrossed in converesation.IUCEE includes a showcase of student research.
REEN also has a LinkedIn group you can join (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8537067/), and you can also subscribe to get email updates from REEN (https://reen.co/subscribe/). My fabulous former boss currently runs the REEN website — shout out to John Mitchell at UCL, a truly great person to work with and for!
So, REEN selected India as a host and asked the applicants to send a member to our REEN team to help us all prepare for REES 2024. We scheduled the event for January when IUCEE’s annual conference falls.
Getting to Hubballi, Karnataka, India for the first time was no small feat, with complicated visa and flight arrangements. Thanks very much to Dr. Nithya Venkatesan, Assistant Director of International Relations at VIT Chennai for helping me arrange flights and some accommodations for my stay. Her help made my trip possible as I was truly overwhelmed.
The lovely KLE Tech auditorium building.All the REES 2024 attendees. Imagine, IUCEE was even bigger!
But it was all worth the effort. It was so inspiring to meet the very energetic members of IUCEE, as REES overlapped their conference by one day. May IUCEE members stayed on for the REE Symposium and contributed to it in insightful ways.
I’ll tell you more about the happenings of REES 2024 in an upcoming blog. Thanks for reading along today to learn how I was inspired to travel to India for my first time.
Meals under the marquee with delicious food plus great ambiance.Panel Discussion 2 on “Transitioning from Engineering to Engineering Education Research”.Making so many new friends and colleagues, like Dr Soumya Narayanan form KLE Tech. The awards ceremony for IUCEE. What enthusiasm and what beautiful dresses!
Renuka is a Professor of (Engineering) Education and the Head of NITTR’s Centre for Academic Studies and Research. Jay is Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and is also a leader of the Centre.
Kicking off NITTTR’s Diamond Jubilee. Pictured left to right: Janardhanan Gangathulasi, Shannon Chance, Renukadevi Selvara, and Prof. Dr. Usha Naesan, Director of NITTR.
I was truly honored to be invited as the keynote for the launch (on January 8, 2024) of the year-long Jubilee celebration to speak about the work I’m doing with engineering ethics education. The audience comprised future teachers of technical subjects (NITTR students) and their teachers (NITTR staff).
Here’s the lovely poster NITTTR produced to announce this International Seminar.
This day-long Jubilee-opening event started with short introductions by Renuka, Jay, Ursa the Director, and me. Then, right before my talk, Dr. K. N. Shoba delivered an exceptionally nice introduction about me — she studied my curriculum vita in great depth and showed she understood it extremely well. I felt so honored by her effort.
The opening introductions.Renuka’s welcome.Jay’s welcomeProf. Dr. Usha Naesan, Director of NITTR, addressing attendees of the International Seminar.
My keynote presentation integrated some active learning techniques (evidently new to the NITTR audience) to explore “Ethics Teaching in Higher Education.”
After discussing the definition of ethics and showing slides about how I have taught ethics (including environmental and social aspects) to students of architecture, engineering, and education, the audience and I did some group activities.
Participants discussed what do ethics in engineering look like to them, and how they define ethics.
Next, I introduced the topic of education research and identified specific resources for educators who want to teach students about ethics. I briefly described my own shift into engineering ethics education research. For instance, I showed them the special focus issues of journals that I have spearheaded related to ethics, and then summarized findings of my study on Ethics & Responsibility in Civil Engineering, published in AJEE.
Then I showed slides to illustrate how I am integrating ethics into the Architectural Engineering curriculum I’ve been designing for NewGiza University (NGU) in Egypt. I described curricular innovations (e.g., challenges and scenarios) that we’re drawing from University College London’s Integrated Engineering Programme (IEP) into the design of the NGU course.
The entire audience after the keynote — what a great group of participants!
Lastly, the audience and I delved into the forthcoming “International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education” that I am editing alongside Tom Børsen (Aalborg University), Diana Martin (UCL), Roland Tormey (EPFL), Thomas Lennerfors (Uppsala University) and Gunter Bombaerts (TU Eindhoven).
I distributed guides to the various Teaching Methods that will be covered in our handbook. There are individual chapters to help teachers who want to use these methods:
Chapter 19) Literature review of teaching methods
Chapter 20) Case studies and dilemmas
Chapter 21) Project-Based Learning (PBL)
Chapter 22) Value Sensitive Design (VSD) & Design-Based Learning (DBL)
Chapter 26) Moral development via Challenge-Based Learning (CBL)
The audience, particularly the students, were enthusiastic and seemed genuinely interested in learning more about these teaching methods.
The forthcoming International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education is slated for release by Routledge publishing house in late 2024. It will be available free of charge in digital format and for purchase in print versions. The handbook is geared toward teachers, researchers, and educational managers — and I hope you’ll read it as well!
A few of the participants and organizers after the keynote.Such lovely gifts from my hosts!NITTTR provided a room in their guesthouse for my comfort before and after the session.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day at NITTTR, including the conversation over lunch with Renuka and Jay. I was honored to meet Prof. Dr. Ursa and the students and teachers of NITTTR. I thank them all for their delightful hospitality and also thank Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) and Dr. Nithya Venkatesan and Dr. Shanmuga Sundaram for helping make this visit to NITTTR possible. VIT funded many of the costs of my travel, provided me meals, accommodation, transportation, warm collegiality, and logistical support to help make my visit to both NITTTR and VIT possible.
I enjoyed connecting with NITTTR staff and students and I look forward to future opportunities to learn together!
Although the days are short, dark, and frequently wet now that we’ve gone off daylight savings time, I’m still savoring memories of a recent week in London. As you likely know, I spent all of 2018 and 2919 on an MSCA fellowship from the European Union, working at University College London and developing fabulous new skills and an invaluable network of colleagues at UCL and around the globe. UCL is truly a magnet for talent and an ongoing source of inspiration.
The time change happened again this year while Aongus and I were in London for the October bank holiday… I often overlap a bank holiday Monday with a working visit to London since my colleagues at UCL have different days than me (at TU Dublin) and I can visit UCL without falling behind at my main job. This was my second Halloween in a row visiting UCL.
I’m fact, this Halloween I spent a full week in London, collaborating with colleagues and attending lectures including Emanuela Tilley’s inaugural professorial lecture (and reception!) and a guest lecture in one of Professor Nick Tyler’s transport engineering classes.
Emanuela Tilley’s Inaugural Professorial Lecture and Reception at UCL.
I worked several days at UCL’s Henry Morley building, which houses the Centre for Engineering Education. I enjoyed catching up with colleagues there, especially Drs Vivek Ramachandran, Kate Roach, and Fiona Truscott. I showed Vivek, who is new to UCL, some of my favorite places in and around campus, including the Thursday Farmers’ Market, the Life Goddess restaurant, and the Building Centre. I after work one night, I attended a comedy show at the newly renovated Bloomsbury Theater.
In the daytimes, I kept Dr Inês Direito’s old desk warm as she’s moved to the University of Aveiro in Portugal. Never fear, though, Inês and I are still in close communication, and now, my mentee Dr Diana Martin is joining CEE so I’ll still never be more than a WhatsApp away from the Center!
During the week, I attended strategic planning meetings with my two “bosses” at UCL — the two directors of the curriculum design project I’ve been working on, via a contract between UCL and TU Dublin, since 2020. They are Professors Emanuela Tilley and John Mitchell, two truly fabulous people to work with.
Thanks to the marvel of online communication, I also completed a half day training on finance software at TU Dublin while I was in London. I also attended online meetings with co-editors of the handbook I’m leading as well as co-authors on a chapter I’m contributing to the handbook.
For the extended weekend, Aongus joined me in the city. We attended two musicals (the Tina Turner musical and “Crazy for You”) and an improv comedy show. We took architectural tours of the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican complex. We visited the Royal Academy of Art , the photography museum off Oxford Street, and the Natural History Museum including its Wildlife Photography of the Year exhibition.
We also visited our favorite haunts around Shoreditch, where we previously lived for 18 months. We got to know the area around Victoria Station better. We even saw Rebecca from “Ted Lasso”, Hannah Waddingham, up close and in person as she’d attended “Crazy for You” and was in the lobby when we exited.
Glimpses of our adventures around the city.
While in London, I also drafted text for my handbook chapter, worked on various projects, attended an improv musical called “Showstopper!”, and did loads of Spanish lessons on Duolingo in the evenings before bed.
It wasn’t supersizing, really, that I picked up a cold somewhere in London. I brought it home along with heaps of inspiration to help carry me through the long working weeks until Christmas.
Now that I’ve recovered from that nasty cold, I can say with conviction that life is good and I am blessed beyond belief.
I was asked to recap my work in the engineering education research (EER) space in the past year.
The biggest projects I’ve been undertaking are editing the forthcoming Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education and a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Education. I serve as a Deputy Editor of the European Journal of Engineering Education and am designing a curriculum in Architectural Engineering for NewGiza University in Egypt. I recently co-authored a paper on comparing thesis and final year project pedagogies that was published in EJEE and I’m doing research about women studying engineering with Sandra Cruz and others, and on BIM education with Barry McAuley.
Today, I am working on writing a report because I’m serving as an external examiner for a research center in South Africa. I’m also grading portfolios submitted by research students in the BIM BSc course I chair. I already prepared a report to send to the teachers who will be delivering one of the two modules I have designed for next semester at NewGiza University, who I will meet with tomorrow. I started my morning with a little fun on Duolingo, where I am learning Spanish.
If there’s time, I’ll review a chapter for the International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education. I’ll share a snapshot of a recent meeting of the handbook editors. This is a most amazing group of collaborators and I am so fortunate to work with them.
The chapters in the theme I’m managing (accreditation of engineering ethics education) are fascinating and I can’t wait to see them published in 2024!
A typical editorial meeting of the Handbook team. Contemplating thoughtfully as always.
The global Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN), which I used to chair, has a new call out for individuals who are passionate about engineering education research and capacity building.
REEN is seeking expressions of interest for two REEN Board positions, representing (1) North American and (2) Central and South America.
Ireland by Chance 