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
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.
Recent News
THE ENGINEERING IDEAS INSTITUTE II (ECL-USA SUMMIT 13)
The second edition of the ECL-USA Engineering Ideas Institute will be held from October 11 – 13, 2021, at The Colorado Chautauqua in Boulder, Colorado. The 2021 Institute will offer an opportunity for participants to take deep dives into two important topics that are central to the future of engineering.... Read More
ECL-USA SUMMIT 12 WRAP-UP: THE ENGINEERING FIRM OF THE FUTURE
Over the coming decade, engineering firms will face significant challenges from both the external environment and from internal forces. Impacts from the external environment will be shaped by global risks (economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal, and technological), including how the clients of engineering firms respond to these risks. Internal challenges will include adapting to the aspirations, values, and needs of new generations of engineers and other young professionals that manifest as they join and build careers within firms. Engineering Change Lab – USA (ECL-USA) Summit 12 explored the potential impacts of these challenges.
In the first half of Summit 12, participants looked at the external landscape of the next decade. Discussions were informed and inspired by our provocateurs.
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- Stephen Brockwell, Senior Product Owner for AEC at ESRI, outlined accelerating changes in digital practice for engineering firms. He described how digital tools utilizing machine learning, artificial intelligence, and generative design are allowing collaborative teams of engineers, cloud computing service providers, intelligent machines, clients, and contractors to innovate design and construction projects and processes.
- Martha Rogers, Natural Capital Economist at The Nature Conservancy, reminded participants of growing environmental challenges that society and the clients of engineering firms will face in the future. She challenged participants to consider that nature-based solutions can provide significant means for meeting the challenges of biodiversity loss, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, population and economic growth, and providing for society’s food and energy needs. Nature-based strategies can be particularly important for the private sector by offering innovative, cost-effective solutions that work as synergistic elements of business strategies.
... Read MoreMAPPING THE FUTURE OF ENGINEERING AND THE GRAND CHALLENGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Mike McMeekin & Kyle Davy
Engineering Change Lab – USA (ECL-USA) Summit 11 featured a deep dive into how engineering and the engineering community can contribute to meeting the challenge of climate change and how engineering might be transformed by the way it responds to the emerging risks of climate change. To observe the journey the engineering community could follow to make this contribution, scan the “Map of The Future for Engineering and The Grand Challenge of Climate Change” that emerged from Summit 11. The map identifies ten “Key Steps” the engineering community can take to help society achieve carbon neutrality and reduce the threat of climate change.
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