Engineering Change Lab-USA (ECL) 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 to foster change across the entire engineering system. Contact us to learn more about how you or your organization can engage with, and benefit through participation with the ECL.
Exploring Engineering Education Virtual Summit, March 14, 2023
What does the future hold for engineering education? Save the date for ECL-USA’s next virtual summit, which is scheduled for March 14, 2023. The summit will explore the future of engineering education. Additional information and the registration link will be available soon. We welcome any input or ideas relevant to this topic.
Past Summits
2022 Engineering Ideas Institute, September 26-28, 2022. Sustainability is not enough. Escalating climate, infrastructure and social crises are outpacing efforts to address them with sustainable practices. The engineering community has the tools and strategies to take us beyond sustainability — both to address dire challenges and to restore living systems. Circular economy and regenerative approaches are principal means for achieving these ends.
Engineers and their allied fields must have the commitment and courage to step up and engage in the hard work of leading change to benefit society.
These propositions were at the heart of the 2022 Engineering Ideas Institute. This summit drew on provocations, exercises, nature walks and dialogues to shift minds and prompt participants to think differently about the future of engineering. This year’s Institute focused on circular economy and regenerative strategies to push society toward a healthy, resilient future. An overview of the Institute is available at this link (2022 Engineering Ideas Institute Wrap-Up).
Technological Stewardship (Summit 15), Presented in Collaboration with ECL-Canada, June 14, 2022. Since the dawn of humanity, our technologies have transformed the world around us, adapting our environment to meet our needs and wants. Over the last 150 years, the Engineering Community has played a primary role in the creation and application of physical, digital, and biological technologies. This summit introduced Tech Stewardship as a professional identity, orientation, and practice that can support us in navigating the complex tensions inherent in our work, broadening our perspective about potential impacts of our efforts, and bending the arc of technology towards greater good. A complete report from the summit is available at this link (TS Summit Report).
Summit 14, Augmenting the Engineering Workforce Through Technological Innovation, March 15, 2022. The Engineering Community is facing an unprecedented talent crisis. Unemployment rates for the industry are less than three percent. The retirement of baby boomers continues. The number of new graduates is increasing at low rates. Meanwhile, the demand for new talent continues to increase dramatically, driven by a growing economy and increasing investments in infrastructure. These stresses on our workforce come at a time when the Engineering Community is challenged by the need to contribute at higher levels in addressing the challenges of the 21st Century. Summit 14 explored how technology may be viewed as a significant strategy for closing this unfolding supply and demand gap – augmenting the engineering workforce using emerging technologies to increase productivity, enhance creativity, and work more efficiently and safely. Key takeaways and important strategies as well as a map of the summit outcomes are available at the links below.
AUGMENTING THE ENGINEERING WORKFORCE THROUGH TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
MAP OF THE FUTURE: TECH INNOVATION FOR WORKFORCE AUGMENTATION
Summit 13, The Engineering Ideas Institute II, October 11-13, 2021. The second edition of The Engineering Ideas Institute (first in-person) was held at The Colorado Chautauqua in Boulder, a historic venue located at the foot of the mountains. The program for the summit focused on two major themes.
- Engineering in an Age of Acceleration. How are the forces of acceleration in technology, the natural environment, and society impacting engineering?
- Engineering and Justice. What can we learn about engineering’s roles in contributing to racial inequality? What can we do, through our work, to help create a more just, equal, diverse, and inclusive society?
ENGINEERING IN AN AGE OF ACCELERATION REPORT
ENGINEERING AND RACIAL JUSTICE REPORT
Summit 12, The Engineering Firm of the Future, June 16, 2021. How will the engineering firm of the future be transformed in the coming decade? Summit 12 explored a set of driving forces that will reshape the environment within which firms operate, their internal business models, and models of practice. Themes explored included the following.
- How will the external landscape within which engineering firms operate be reshaped by global risks and technology accelerators?
- What aspirations, values, and needs will new generations of engineering talent manifest as they join and build careers within firms?
View the Summit 12 Report here.
Summit 11, The Imperative of Climate Change and the Future of Engineering, March 22, 2021. How will engineering and the engineering community be transformed by the way it responds to the emerging dynamics of climate change and the threat it poses to our world? How might its stewardship of technology and nature on behalf of society be manifest in helping society confront this climate imperative? Summit 11 explored the roles the engineering community can play within and across the private sector, public sector, and the non-profit sector to answer these questions. View the Summit 11 Report here.
Summit 10, Licensure Models for the 4th Industrial Revolution, December 16, 2020. Summit 10 was presented in partnership with the National Society of Professional Engineers and the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. The participants in the summit explored the future of licensure for engineering and the role licensure and regulatory bodies can play in ensuring that engineers and organizations engaged in the development of the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution act in the public interest. View the Summit 10 Report here.
Summit 9, The Engineering Ideas Institute, July 29-30 & August 4-5, 2020. Summit 9 featured deep dives into four of the strategic issues of the future.
Technological Driving Forces – Social Impacts of Technology / Building Capacities for Stewardship of Technology (Session 1 Report)
Environmentally Responsible Engineering Leadership Challenges – Building Capacities for Leading ERE Work / Leading the Change (Session 2 Report)
Diversity Challenges – Exploring Barriers and Enablers for Women and Under-Represented Minorities in Engineering (Session 3 Report)
Public Policy: Enabling Engineering Leadership in the Public Policy Arena (Session 4 Report)
Summit 8, March 10 & 11, 2020, Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute, Houston, TX. The themes of Summit 8 included exploration of the future of engineering through the lens of biomedical engineering and the stewardship role of engineers with respect to climate and extreme weather challenges, both of which are major issues for Houston and the Gulf Coast. View the Summit 6 reports on biomedical engineering and climate and extreme weather challenges.
Summit 7, October 21 & 22, Boston, Massachusetts. Summit 7 continued the work of ECL-USA on technological driving forces that are transforming the way engineers do their work and also included a deep dive into the future of consulting engineering. View the Summit 7 report.
Summit 6, July 15 & 16, 2019, Berkeley, California. Summit 6 was a joint effort of ECL-USA and ECL-Canada focusing on engineering ethics in a world of rapid technological change and engineering entrepreneurship. Summit 6 was held at the historic Berkeley City Club. View the Summit 6 reports on engineering ethics and entrepreneurship.
Summit 5, March 5 – 6, 2019, Kansas City, Kansas. This Summit focused on K-12 Education and Engineering, and Engineers and Public Policy. Thank you Blue Valley CAPS for a great meeting facility and for introducing us to an innovative program. View the Summit 5 Report.
Summit 4, October 25 – 26, 2018, Denver, Colorado. The primary goals of Summit 4 were to hear from provocateurs, to explore key concepts for the lab (Technological Change, Change in the Academy, and the Intersection of Technology and Nature); and to advance the work of our focused initiative. View the Summit 4 Report.
Summit 3, June 12 – 13, 2018, Omaha, Nebraska. At Summit 3, the attendees explored the Vision Statement’s imperative for the engineering community to serve as stewards of technology, the built and natural environments, and public health, safety and welfare, and worked on a definition of stewardship. Additionally, time was spent on expanding our understanding of and commitment to the role that the ECL-USA can play, and how we could continue to evolve the ECL-USA as a social change lab. View the Summit 3 Report here.
Summit 2, February 5 – 6, 2018, Omaha, Nebraska. The objectives of Summit 2 were to explore the prospect of, and process for, moving the engineering profession toward fulfilling its highest potential in the emerging future; crystallize the intent of the ECL – USA and commit to using a social laboratory approach in taking on this work; recognize and make progress on focused initiatives begun at the first summit; organize ECL – USA, including structure, participation, communication protocols, and plans for future summits.
View the Summit 2 Report here.
Summit 1, July 31 – August 1, 2017, Omaha, Nebraska. This first Summit was convened to evaluate whether there was a need for the ECL-USA, and to gauge overall interest in the effort. The Summit heard from Engineering Change Lab – Canada, conducted scenario planning exercises, discussed other efforts ongoing in the United States, identified several initiatives, and identified next steps. View the Summit 1 Report here.
