Developing Global Engineering Competency Through Participation in “Engineers Without Borders”

With a growing need for globally competent engineers, global engineering educational experiences, such as Engineers Without Borders (EWB), have become an important potential avenue for teaching students global engineering competencies. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to better understand engineering students’ learning experiences in a EWB project, looking specifically at how students participating on the project exhibit attributes of global engineering competencies. The case study investigates an EWB project with the mission of designing and implementing a solar-powered electricity system for a school in Uganda. We found that students do exhibit attributes of global engineering competencies, although attributes regarding engineering cultures and ethics were exhibited more strongly than attributes regarding global regulations and standards. We discuss implications of these findings for educational practice and future research.