Open AccessFIVE CAPABILITIES OF DESIGN ENGINEERS: TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE TRANSDISCIPLINARY COMPETENCIES
Author(s) -
Minha R. Ha,
Aleksander Czekanski
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
proceedings of the ... ceea conference
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2371-5243
DOI - 10.24908/pceea.vi0.13821
Subject(s) - engineering ethics , negotiation , discipline , work (physics) , sociocultural evolution , knowledge management , engineering , engineering management , sociology , computer science , mechanical engineering , social science , anthropology
Today there is a growing emphasis on responsible engineering design, which commits its practice to sustainable, ethical, equitable outcomes in the broader societal level. For engineers involved in the design, development, and implementation of existing and emerging technologies, such responsibility requires skillfulness on multiple fronts, for example: facilitating the integration of cross-disciplinary expertise and knowledge; translating a detailed problem understanding from its sociocultural settings into technical requirements; and negotiating requirements and priorities with key internal and external stakeholders. In order to understand how design engineers access, acquire, and effectively utilize knowledge outside their technical disciplines, especially pertaining to the human and social contexts of the design problem and designer practice, an online survey and in-depth interviews were conducted with professional engineers. The paper discusses potentially important design engineer capabilities that engineering educators should consider. We welcome discussions and feedback on our ongoing work.