Engineering Change Lab-USA (ECL-USA) is a catalyst for change within the engineering community, helping it reach its highest potential on behalf of society
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Envisioning a New Water Ethic for the Engineering Community – Virtual Preview Wrap-Up
“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Aldo Leopold
How will the engineering community adapt to the rapidly changing world of water management? Are we content to keep responding incrementally or will we rise to the challenge of fundamentally rethinking how we engage with water? How can a new water ethic be part of a national movement driven by local solutions? Those were the questions posed by Dave White of Arizona State University and Sarah Robinson of the U.S. Water Alliance as they kicked off the April 8 virtual preview portion of Engineering Change Lab – USA’s (ECL) Envisioning a New Water Ethic for the Engineering Community Summit.
The Pushback Against DEI and the Implications for the Engineering Community Workforce
In June 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in the case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, that barred colleges and universities from using race as a factor in admissions decisions. This decision represented a clear signal of change with respect to Diversity / Equity / Inclusion (DEI) programs in public and private organizations across the United States. Since that decision other signals of change confirming the pushback against DEI have emerged. These include actions by multiple state legislatures that ban DEI programs at state universities and legal challenges to corporate and non-profit DEI programs. This emerging trend, which was one of the focal points at our 2024 Engineering Change Lab – USA (ECL) Engineering Ideas Institute, brings significant implications for the engineering community workforce…. Read More
2024 Engineering Ideas Institute Wrap-Up
Mike McMeekin & Kyle Davy
In his new book, Wicked Problems, Guru Madhavan of the National Academy of Engineering tells the story of Ed Link, the inventor of the flight trainer for pilots which transformed the aviation industry in the early 20th century by addressing the educational, workforce, and cultural challenges that accompanied the rapid development of aviation technologies. Link’s technological expertise and systems approach addressed a significant challenge of his time. In the 21st century, we face an even more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. The 2024 Engineering Change Lab – USA (ECL) Engineering Ideas Institute featured a deep dive into the role of the engineering community in this VUCA world. Madhavan posed a key question to the participants in the Institute, “What is the equivalent of a Link trainer for engineering in the 21st century?”


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We are living in a world that is facing an unprecedented combination of technological change…
and rapidly evolving societal needs, driven in large part by environmental imperatives. As this uncertain future unfolds, maintaining the status quo is not an option for the engineering community. The imperative for change and adaptation has driven the formation of ECL-USA.
Learn More about ECL-USASummits
ECL-USA convenes two to three times a year to share perspectives, deepen our understanding of engineering’s emerging future, and to launch experiments and focused initiatives designed both to foster change across the entire engineering system from education to practice to research to licensure.
Upcoming SummitsOur Way Forward
Our way forward is through action inspired by the Engineering Change Lab-USA’s mission. ECL-USA was started in 2017, with the mission of becoming a catalyst for change within the engineering profession, by helping the profession reach its highest potential on behalf of society.
To achieve our mission, we will:
- Bring together stakeholders, innovative thinkers, and change agents to explore and generate new knowledge about the role of engineering in an emerging future.
- Self-organize as an independent (non-aligned) entity – complementing existing stakeholder organizations (professional societies and associations), not attempting to duplicate their efforts.
- Become a communications hub, linking and sharing knowledge between stakeholders engaged in creating the future of the engineering community (profession).
- Engage in and lead collaborative initiatives designed to transform the engineering community (profession) to help it thrive in an evolving world.