Out of respect for the uncertainty around potential health risks (including travel) and the uncertainty of our economy, Engineering Change Lab – USA (ECL-USA) has elected to offer ECL-USA Summit 9, The Engineering Ideas Institute, as a virtual experience. We will return to the in-person format for our future summits when conditions have stabilized.
The Engineering Ideas Institute will be presented in four separate, four-hour sessions.
- Session 1 – Wednesday, July 29, 2020, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM CDT, Technological Driving Forces: Social Impacts of Technology / Building Capacities for Stewardship of Technology
- Session 2 – Thursday, July 30, 2020, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM CDT, Environmentally Responsible Engineering: Building Capacities for Leading ERE Work / Leading the Change
- Session 3 – Wednesday, August 5, 2020, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM CDT, Diversity Challenges: Exploring Barriers and Enablers for Women and Under Represented Minorities in Engineering
- Session 4 – Thursday, August 6, 2020, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM CDT, Public Policy: Enabling Engineering Leadership in the Public Policy Arena
The timing of the summit offers a unique opportunity to reflect on and make sense of the role of engineers and the engineering community in society as we move past the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the major focus areas identified above, each of the conference sessions will also explore important questions.
• Identifying new ways for engineers to take action as stewards of technology and nature on behalf of society, both in the short term as additional waves of the virus move across the globe and in the longer term as society inevitably faces other types of major disturbances (climate change, etc.).
• Learning from the events and experience of the corona virus pandemic to surface ways for engineers to help improve society’s resilience and adaptive capacity and helping society connect technological choices to living systems in new ways, achieving a more profound understanding of systemic health and resilience.
• Offering leadership to help society move along a pathway toward a future we want, while avoiding the kind of conditions we don’t want.
• Insuring that society prepares for future challenges rather than waiting until the only feasible response is to shut down our economy with the greatest harm being absorbed by those with the least resources.
Each session will be presented utilizing the Zoom Meeting platform. All sessions will be facilitated by Kyle Davy. Kyle and all session provocateurs will present by live stream with opportunities for live questions and answers. In line with the tradition of past ECL-USA summits, there will also be opportunities for small group and large group discussions. Information on provocateurs and a preliminary agenda will be available soon.
Registration for the summit is open through the ECL-USA website (Summit Registration).
While the transition to a virtual format will challenge all of us to be fully engaged, it also offers an opportunity to reach a larger audience and broaden our base within the engineering community. We hope you will consider inviting your staff and professional associates to take part in the summit. We wish everyone all the best in this unique, challenging time.
