8/21/21 Update
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.
The first theme for the summit will be Engineering in an Age of Acceleration. This theme stems from the observation in Thomas Friedman’s 2016 book, Thank You for Being Late, that the gap between technological progress and humanity’s ability to adapt to technological change is growing ever wider. In the summit, we will explore the role that engineering can play in helping society close or cope with this gap. We will also examine whether and how these gaps manifest within engineering and identify strategies for increasing the adaptability of the engineering community. Our provocateurs will set the stage and inform this deep dive.
- Bob Prieto, Chairman and CEO of Strategic Program Management and former Senior VP with Fluor, and Bruce Bartolf, Executive Consultant and former Principal and CTO at Gensler, will trace the accelerating trajectory of technology, illustrating resulting failures and disruptions, and pointing toward new capacities that the engineering community needs to develop to help society successfully deal with these dynamics.
- Allison Wood, Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering at Olin College, will describe how Olin is helping to create a new engineering education paradigm, create its unique academic community, and prepare engineering students to “become world changers.”
The second theme for the summit will be “Engineering and Racial Inequality.” We will look at the ways that engineering has contributed to racial inequality in communities and whether these issues continue to be present today. We will then look at how engineering needs to change to help heal past harms and create a more just and equal society and how engineering can grow from a more equitable approach to our work. Provocateurs that will inform this discussion include the following.
- Khalid Kadir, University of California Berkeley, Donna Riley, Purdue University School of Engineering Education, and Yolanda Webb, WEBB Advisory Group, will set the stage for the discussion of what we know about engineering and racial inequality.
- Nancy Pridal, President and CEO of Lamp Rynearson, will describe her efforts to lead change in her firm’s practice through employee education and community partnerships.
The reading list for the summit is available (https://ecl-usa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Summit-13-Reading-List.pdf).
In the final portion of the summit, we will update participants and seek input regarding ECL-USA’s ongoing initiatives on the future of engineering licensure and developing a climate change noble purpose for engineering.
The site of the summit, The Colorado Chautauqua, is a historic venue located at the foot of the mountains on the outskirts of Boulder. There will be limited onsite housing available, so if you are interested in a reservation, please contact Mike McMeekin ([email protected]).
You can register for Summit 13 at the link below.
