On Wednesday, 3/17, at 11 am, Dr. Madeline Polmear, an engineering DBER faculty candidate, will be sharing research entitled "Preparing the Future Civil Engineering Workforce: Improving Professional Competencies and Supporting Ethical Responsibility".
Abstract:
Future civil engineers will fill jobs that do not yet exist to address challenges that were unfathomable generations ago with technologies whose ethical implications are unknown. The workforce thus needs a broad skillset and a diversity of perspectives. Despite significant shifts in engineering work, the curriculum has remained fundamentally the same. This presentation will focus on bridging the gap between academia and industry by expanding socio-technical competencies, inculcating professional responsibility, and making engineering education inclusive. In particular, it will emphasize the role of engineering faculty in ethics education and how an understanding of the personal influences on their instruction can inform integration of ethics in the curriculum. This work addresses priorities in engineering professional preparation and formation by strengthening the socio-technical competence of the workforce. It also lays the foundation for future research to explore ethics instruction as a way to make engineering education more inclusive and empower students to address pressing societal issues.
Bio:
Madeline Polmear is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering at the University of Florida. She received her B.S. in environmental engineering, M.S. in civil engineering, and Ph.D. in civil engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. She has been conducting engineering education research since 2012 with a focus on the professional preparation of the future workforce by bridging technical and nontechnical competencies and broadening pathways for underrepresented students.
Time: 11-12 on Wednesday, March 17th
Zoom: https://unl.zoom.us/j/94631344183