Developing the soft & missing skillset of future engineers, which are not just technicians but also innovators, taking account of the transdisciplinary perspective and with the incentive of solving real-life problems from multiple perspectives.
Context
According to the National Academy of Engineering, engineers today work in diverse and diffuse teams, often across time zones and national borders. However, shortly engineers will have an even more diverse environment to work in and more significant humanity’s issues to solve than ever before. Therefore, the Makeademy project addresses the need to supplement the HE (Higher Education) engineering study programs with an innovative solution-oriented and widely available program as a platform to recognise and engage with the macro-ethical, adaptive and cross-disciplinary challenges embedded in professional issues.
The Makeademy project aims to innovate existing engineering study programmes by developing the flexible modular and widely available program, centered on the conceive-design-implement-operate (CDIO) approach, in order to provide students with the skills needed to address current professional and global challenges.
Objectives
- Improve the HE engineering studies while creating and developing a widely available and flexible framework of study module
- Develop the transdisciplinary oriented study materials applicable to a wide range of engineering disciplines, in which engineers are involved in all phases of a product life cycle
- Develop the hardware production skills of HE students while creating a prototyping study material
- Make developed study materials publicly available via Open Educational Resources (OER) & Future Engineers E-Learning Platform
- Test & improve created project results while training the first generation of HE students through learning, teaching, training event
Activities
- Development a Framework of the MAKEADEMY study module and guidelines for its application
- Development of study materials based on the Conceive —Design —Implement —Operate (CDIO) methodology
- Creation of study materials for the development of skills on rapid prototyping based on different techniques and materials
- Organization of the Future Engineers’ Hackathon
- Publication and dissemination of the results of the project and of the e-learning platform
Resources
- Educators’ Guide
- Student Business Idea Development Roadmap
- Open Educational Resource “Creating innovations: everything from idea to reality”
- Open Educational Resource “Everything about Prototyping”
- Future Engineers’ e-Learning Platform (O4)
- Newsletters
Impact
- At least 50-60 HEIs will be informed about the study module MAKEADEMY
- At least 20 HEIs will use the O1 and implement the study module in their study programmes
- At least 2500 HE educators and students will use OER (O2&O3).
- At least 3000 users will visit the project’s Future Engineers E-Learning platform (O4)
- At least 1000 new contacts will be knowledgeable and committed to disseminate the
- project’s outputs to a wider audience.
- 20 HE students will benefit from MAKEADEMY Hackathon activities during the project’s learning/teaching/training event;
- 10 HE educators will learn about the MAKEADEMY study module during the project’s training event.
Partners
- Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VILNIUS TECH – Lituania) – Coordinatore
- Riga Technical University (RTU – Latvia)
- Institut d’arquitectura avancada de Catalunya (IAAC – Spain)
- CESIE (Italy)
- Aarhus University (AU – Danmark)
