Engineering Change Lab-USA (ECL-USA) is a catalyst for change within the engineering community, helping it reach its highest potential on behalf of societyVIEW OUR EVENTS
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Engineering & Public Policy Leadership
Mike McMeekin & Kyle Davy
Updated 5/12/23.
To unlock its full potential and fulfill its obligation to serve society at the highest levels, the engineering community needs to step boldly into the public policy arena. It is in this arena where critical policies related to the engineering challenges of the 21st century are established and where funding levels and priorities are set. The public policy arena is where problems are defined that the engineering community is then asked to solve. The technical knowledge and experience of the engineering community are critical to effective public policy. To have a greater impact in the public policy arena, we will need to move from a sense of disempowerment to empowerment; from believing that we only implement the policies and ideas of others to active engagement in defining the right problems in the right way. We will need to apply this empowerment in new ways, with great respect and empathy for the impacts of public policy and our work on people, on communities, and on the environment.
Scanning the Horizon of Engineering Education: The Sustainability Imperative
Why is sustainability important to the transformation of engineering education? ECL-USA’s virtual summit, Scanning the Horizon of Engineering Education: The Sustainability Imperative, held on March 14, 2023, explored this question. The multi-faceted answers to this question lie in the engineering community’s responsibility in protecting our planet, the massive impact of the work of engineering, engineering student values, employer needs and responsibilities, and the academic community’s role in preparing the next generation.
Cindy Cooper, The Lemelson Foundation
Provocateurs Announced for Engineering Education Summit
Scanning the Horizon of Engineering Education: The Sustainability Imperative
An ECL-USA Summit Sponsored by NCEES and Presented in Collaboration with ABET, Engineering for One Planet, and Olin College of Engineering
A series of significant societal, technological, and environmental challenges are reshaping what it means to be an engineer in the 21st Century. Engineering education is a primary crucible for this change, with the need to transform the curriculum, experience, and composition of the student body, faculty, and staff in higher education institutions.
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.
