Preliminary work on weaving professionalism throughout the engineering curriculum
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American Society for Engineering Education, 2016. As shown throughout this paper, the team understands the critical need for professional skills development, and, if done right, they know the knowledge will set apart the department's alumni in the profession. Like many others in the engineering community, they believe traditional professional formation methods are not meeting intended outcomes, and a new approach is needed. The team believes that weaving professionalism threads throughout the curriculum not only reinforces knowledge to improve student understanding and efficacy, it shows how topics are interconnected by tying learning to the real-world. Industry feedback and support have been central to the department's professional formation efforts, and this paper has shown how the IAB has been a catalyst for a number of programs that the team should continue to leverage, particularly the partnerships that harness the passions of practicing engineers. The team is especially proud of their holistic initiatives, like the Engineer in Residence program, that threads professionalism throughout the undergraduate experience, while providing unique real-world perspectives. Finally, the team has initiated a new collaboration centered on the development of a professional skills assessment mechanism that will show the real impact of their work. They seek feedback and support from the engineering education community about these important issues. What insights, or tips, can the community provide to propel the project? Are there additional strategies or factors that the project team should consider? The department will know its vision has been realized when ECE students no longer need to ask questions such as: Why am I learning this, and why should I care? Will I ever need this information when I get a job? What does it mean to be an engineer?
