Reflections on the Joy of Engineeringon the Occasion of the iLaunch of iFoundry & iCommunity

David E. GoldbergIllinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, IL 61801deg@illinois.edu

Welcome to iFoundry & iCommunity

• Welcome to iFoundry.• iFoundry began over 2 years ago as grass roots effort to

transform engineering education.• Became College activity in fall 2008, one year ago.• iLaunch as joyful way for iFoundry 2013 to begin.• Introduce yourself to person on your left and right: Name &

where you’re from.• 2 questions:– Why did you choose engineering school?– Why did you choose to join iFoundry?

• Explore the joy of engineering, community, and learning.

Roadmap

• The joy or (joys) of engineering (JoE).• The JoE and the aspirations of iStudents. • From the joy of engineering to the joy of X.• Historical perspective: Cold war curriculum in an

internet world.• What don’t cold war engineers know how to do?• Social connectedness and iCommunity.• Dynamic T-shaped engineers and lifelong

learning.

The Joy(s) of Engineering (JoE)

• Engineering is not a monolith:–A creative, challenging profession–A constructive, real-world profession–A people profession–A global profession–An entrepreneurial profession–A serving profession–An optimistic profession

Creative & ChallengingThe scientist merely explores that which exists, while the engineer creates what has never existed before.

Theodore von Kármán

• Engineers fundamentally create new products, services, & processes.

• Intellectual challenge of engineering requires novel application of knowledge.

Theodore von Kármán (1881-1963)

JoE & the Aspirations of iStudents

• 3 Aspirations:– Create cool technology

(products & services)– Wanna be the next

Max Levchin (entrepreneurial).

– Want to create sustainable world & solve societal problems (service)

• 4 Teams:– Art & engineering

design (AED).– Services & systems

engineering (SSE).– Entrepreneurship &

innovation (EI).– Engineering in

service of society (ESS).

From the Joy of Engineering to the Joy of X

• To get a fuller picture need to go from Joy of Engineering to the Joy of X, where X is element of {engineering, community, learning}.

• Historical perspective from WW2 & the cold war (CW): engineers as specialized, individualistic & narrow.

• What’s missing in engineers educated in CW curriculum?

• Consider joy of engineering, community, & learning from this perspective.

Cold War Curriculum in a Creative Era

• Houston, we’ve got a problem.• After World War 2, engineers

accepted notion (myth?) that “science won the war.”

• 1955 Grinter report spurred injection of math & science, reduction in design & practice.

• Engineering was specialized, individualistic & narrow.

8 (c) 2009 David E. Goldberg

What’s Missing in CW-Trained Engineers?

• 20 years of teaching senior design gives clue.• 4 years in CW curriculum, what don’t they know?– Question: Socrates 101.– Label: Aristotle 101.– Model conceptually: Hume 101 & Aristotle

102.– Decompose: Descartes 101.– Measure: Bacon-Locke 101.– Visualize/draw: da Vinci-Monge 101.– Communicate: Newman 101

• Call these the missing basics (MBs) vs. “the basics” = math, sci, & eng sci.

• iFoundry focusing on missing basics to educate more creative engineers. Socrates (470-399 BCE)

9 (c) 2009 David E. Goldberg

A Cliché of Cold War Engineering School

• Engin profs used to say the following:– “Look to your left. Look to your right.”– “One of the three of you won’t make it!”

• Statistically correct: 50%-70% survive.• Pedagogically improper. • Why take pride in failure of capable students?• Assumes that “rugged individuals” must survive

selective “weed out” process to be successful.

Research Shows Otherwise

• Russ Korte’s work on transitions:– College to work– HS to College

• Single most important variable in transition success social connectedness (SC).

• iCommunity designed to promote SC & your success.

Russell Korte

Look to Left & Right: the iFoundry Version

• Try it again:– Look to your left. Look to your right.– In iFoundry those two people crucial supporters

to help you complete a challenging learning experience.

• iLaunch is primarily about the joy of community.• Not an accident that we start with this.• iCommunity calculus: How can we form a supportive

group and become great engineers together?

What Needed for Joy of Community?

• What skills necessary to become tight knit supportive community?– Need to probe and ask questions of others.– Need to label challenging people problems.– Need to create and communicate.

• You need the missing basics!!!• Joy of community, teamwork, leadership,

facilitated by mastery of the missing basics.

Teaching: Another Blast from the Past

• In old model, students were passive vessels.• Professors poured knowledge into their brains.• Assumes static world of engineers as category enhancers.• Three flavors of iStudent as category creators:– Cool new technology.– Entrepreneurs & innovators.– Working with developing cultures.

• Common thread: Need to create new stuff & need to keep learning.

• Learning in creative era is never ending enterprise.

Research on Tech Visionaries as Clue

• Helpful to look at extreme exemplars of success.

• Price, Vojak, & Griffin have done work on tech visionaries (TVs).

• TV creates bottom line revenue from new products & services.

• T-shaped person both broad and deep.

• TVs are dynamic Ts.• Do deep dive in unfamiliar area to

make new products.Ray Price

How to Be a Joyful Lifelong Learner?

• What skills do you need to be a dynamic T or lifelong learner?– Need to ask framing questions.– Need to learn lingo of new areas & connect to

things understood.– Need to collect data in new situation.– Need to come up with creative solutions

appropriate to situation.• You guessed it. The missing basics are the key.

Joy of Engineering, Community & Learning

• Taken together these joys can help put you on track to engineering education aligned with the times.

• Missing basics tie all three together: Critical & creative thinking skills cut across three areas.

• iFoundry is committed to work with you in ways we start today.

• Committed to learning and improving continuously.

Let the Celebration of iCommunity Begin

• As a group let us dedicate ourselves to joy of engineering, community, and learning.

• Today we concentrate on building community.• Today and tomorrow we form iTeams in areas of your

interests.• Monday, we start on learning and applying missing

basics in integrated way.• iLaunch is now in session: Let the engineering begin.

Let the community begin. Let the learning begin. Let iFoundry begin.

For More Information

• iFoundry website: www.ifoundry.illinois.edu • iFoundry YouTube:

www.youtube.com/illinoisfoundry • iFoundry SlideShare:

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