KEEN 2020 Annual Report

12 Dodson explains, “WPI’s Major Qualifying Project is similar to the senior capstone project at most engineer- ing schools, but with the IQP program, student teams go to one of our 45 project centers around the world. I’ve brought the KEEN entrepreneurial mindset into project advising by integrating curiosity, connections, and cre- ating value (3C’s) into fieldwork and community engage- ment. I help students understand that the 3C’s are not just organizing principles or bullet points on a PowerPoint slide. Curiosity is important to understanding stakehold- ers and advancing the project, and making connections, taking initiative, and creating value are vital. Technical skills plus an entrepreneurial mindset are a very strong combination.” Dodson suggests adding an important fourth “C” to engineering education - context. “Think of context as ‘the messy human condition.’ Context includes politics, finan- cial pressures, social stratification, gender and identity issues, and so on. Helping engineering students increase their social awareness enhances their ability to be empa- thetic and to make smart decisions.” WPI conducted a survey of 2500 alums that indicated employers strongly believe the IQP experience translates into significant value for their companies. Employers be- lieve the IQP helps shape world views, a sense of personal responsibility, and the professional character that allows WPI graduates to contribute to any team on the job. Dodson concludes, “Employers know that all engineering graduates have technical knowledge, but WPI graduates also have cultural knowledge, experience working on interdisciplinary teams, and an understanding of the arc of projects – including what can go wrong. Perhaps most significantly, graduates gain an appreciation of the impor- tance of incorporating human experiences and perspec- tives into the work we do as engineers.” “Employers know that all engineering graduates have technical knowledge, but WPI graduates also have cultural knowledge, experience working on interdisciplinary teams, and an understanding of the arc of projects – including what can go wrong.” SPOTLIGHT ON CONTENT Global Experiences Strengthen U.S. Engineers – A Fourth C: Context Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) is recognized for its project-based, experiential curriculum. Since joining KEEN, many WPI faculty members have integrated Entrepreneur- ially Minded Learning (EML) into the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) experience. Nearly 1,000 students/year participate in the IQP. For most, this graduation requirement in global engagement occurs during a seven-week, full-time, off-campus re- search project where interdisciplinary teams work with a sponsor organization on an open-ended socio-technical issue. During the project, students come to better under- stand the human condition in context. As the Co-Director of WPI’s Global Lab, Dr. Leslie Dodson is involved in the design and implementation of training modules for the program. Dodson, who has been an on- site IQP advisor in Albania and New Zealand, says “IQP project work focuses on the big problems confronting ev- eryone, regardless of where they are in the world, includ- ing education, healthcare, climate change, and equality. These are cross-boundary challenges.” Cameron Person in the WPI Foisie Innovation Studio on April 30. Person’s Interactive Qualifying Project will take him to Japan in the fall of 2019. Photo credit: Kayana Szymczak for The New York Times Dr. Leslie Dodson https://engineeringunleashed.com/profile/view/1775