2016 CDIO European Regional Meeting will be held at TU Delft in the Netherlands 25-26 January 2016 and is organised by the Dutch 3TU.Centre for Engineering Education (TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, University Twente), in collaboration with The Hague University of Applied Sciences
The landscape of the engineering and societal challenges is dramatically different from the past because of the many deep interconnections. They require innovative solutions that balance technological innovation, economic competitiveness, environmental protection and social flourishing. The new breed of engineers will not only be comprehensive problem solvers, but also problem definers, and lead multidisciplinary teams in setting agendas and fostering innovation, requiring an entrepreneurial attitude.
International teams in Europe and all over the world of wise men and women have been discussing and writing reports, spending thousands of hours, to the updating of the attributes of tomorrow’s engineer. But making the change in engineering education has become the serious barrier.
Systems thinking, creativity, multidisciplinary thinking, intercultural communication, complex problem solving, collaborating in multidisciplinary teams, resilience, communicating, accessing and analysing information. They are survival skills for successful engineers who will work in the global world of work.
Backward mapping that perspective to higher engineering education shows an increasing need for learning styles and skills of creativity and innovative, “out of the box” thinking processes, and a learning environment where divergent thinking, opinion generating, and subjective interpretations are encouraged.
Although the world of higher engineering education has been extremely conservative, the global CDIO Initiative has been rethinking engineering education and given many impulses to innovations of curricula in higher engineering education.
The theme of the CDIO European Regional Meeting is “Inventing Tomorrow’s Engineering Education”, and the purpose is to learn about new trends and share best practices of curricular change in Europe.
In the conference we will emphasise how we can successfully adapt engineering programmes to the changing needs of the 21st century, with special attention to multi- and interdisciplinary thinking, cross-cultural collaboration, creativity and innovation skills. We will address curricular developments that are going on for a better student engagement by connecting the first-year courses in fundamental engineering sciences (math, physics, engineering mechanics, programming) to the engineering discipline. We will learn about the developments, successes and failures in our community about new learning environments like blended learning, gaming and virtual labs . Last but not least we will discuss efforts and results how we can create a sustainable professional learning community of lecturers where learning is sparked by personal knowledge and ability to engage others with passion and creativity.
Although making change in engineering education is a serious barrier indeed, the meeting will demonstrate that many universities in the CDIO Initiative are working hard to change their programmes in order to absorb the changes in the world 10 to 15 years from now.
Conference fee:
- Early birds: €375,- (registration before 1 December 2015)
- Regular fee: €425,- (registration on 1 December 2015 and later)
This fee includes:
- Welcome reception on 24 January 2016
- Conference diner on 25 January including transportation
- Lunches, coffee breaks and refreshments at the conference
- Access to all conference sessions and workshops
- Access to the campus tour incl. transportation (if applicable)
- Conference bag
Register here
Faculty of Aerospace Engineering
Netherlands