Overview of CDIO:Past, present and future

Professor Johan MalmqvistChalmers University of TechnologyGothenburg, Sweden

OUTLINE

• What is an engineer? What is the professional context of engineering?

• The need for a new approach

– The CDIO goals and vision

– What do engineering graduates need to be able to do?

– How can we do better at educating them?

• Future developments to the CDIO approach

• Concluding remarks & discussion

WHAT DO ENGINEERS DO?

”Scientists investigate that which already is.Engineers create that which has never been.

- Theodore von Karmann

”What you need to invent, is an imagination and a pile of junk”

- Thomas Edison

INUSTRY EXPECTATIONS - DESIRED ATTRIBUTES OF AN ENGINEER (BOEING, CA 1995)

• A good understanding of engineering science fundamentals– Mathematics, Physical and life sciences, Information technology

• A good understanding of design and manufacturing processes• A multi-disciplinary, systems perspective• A basic understanding of the context in which engineering is practiced

– Economics, History, The environment, Customer and societal needs• Good communication skills - written, oral, graphic, and listening• A profound understanding of the importance of teamwork.• Personal skills

– High ethical standards– Ability to think both critically and creatively—independently and

cooperatively– Flexibility

• Curiosity and a desire to learn for life

GOVERNMENTAL EXPECTATIONS

”The engineering profession aims to solve problems of technical nature, concrete and often complex, and associated with the creation, realization and operation of products, systems and services. This ability is the result of a combination of technical knowledge and and knowledge of economics and social science, both firmly based in science”

- Commission des titres d’ingénieur, France)

(my translation)

TO SUMMARIZE: THE MAIN GOALS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION

• Master a deeper working knowledge of the technical fundamentals

• Lead in the creation and operation of new products, processes, and systems

• Understand the importance and strategic impact of research and technological development on society

To educate students who are able to:

EVOLUTION OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION

Innovation, Implementation, Collaboration skillsPractice

Analytical skills DisciplinaryknowledgeTheory

Pre-1950s:Practice

1960s:Science & practice

1980s:Science

2000:CDIO

We are not where we want to be – engineering education needs reform!

CENTRAL QUESTIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION DESIGNERS

• What is the professional role and practical context of the profession(al)? (need)

• What knowledge, skills and attitudes should students possess as they graduate from our programs? (program learning outcomes)

• How can we do better at ensuring that students learn these skills? (curriculum, teaching, learning, workspaces, assessment)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

THE PROFESSIONAL ROLE(S) OF ENGINEERS

”Engineers Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate complex products and systems in a modern team-based engineering environment”

CONTEXT FOR ENGINEERING: THE C-D-I-O PROCESS

Lifecycle of a product, process, project, system, software, material

Conceive: customer needs, technology, enterprise strategy, regulations; and conceptual, technical, and business plans

Design: plans, drawings, and algorithms that describe what will be implemented

Implement: transformation of the design into the product, process, or system, including manufacturing, coding, testing and validation

Operate: the implemented product or process delivering the intended value, including maintaining, evolving and retiring the system

Duke University

What is the full set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that a student should possess as they

graduate from university?

– At what level of proficiency?

– In addition to the traditional engineering disciplinary knowledge

FROM UNDERLYING NEED TO PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES

Educate students who:•Understand how to conceive-design-implement-operate•Complex products andsystems•In a modern team-based

engineering environment

•And are mature and thoughtful individuals

The CDIO Syllabus - a comprehensive statement of detailed goals for an engineering education

1. Disciplinary knowledge

3. Inter-personal

2. Personal

4. CDIO

Process

Team

Product

Self

THE CDIO SYLLABUS

• A generalized list of competences that an engineer should possess

• Program specific (1) and general (2-4)

• Created and validated by alumni, faculty and students

• A ”complete” reference model

•1 Disciplinary Knowledge & Reasoning:1.1 Knowledge of underlying sciences1.2 Core engineering fundamental knowledge1.3 Advanced engineering fundamental knowledge

•2 Personal and Professional Skills2.1 Analytical reasoning and problem solving2.2 Experimentation and knowledge discovery2.3 System thinking2.4 Personal skills and attributes2.5 Professional skills and attributes

•3 Interpersonal Skills3.1 Multi-disciplinary teamwork3.2 Communications3.3 Communication in a foreign language

•4 CDIO of Complex Systems4.1 External and societal context4.2 Enterprise and business context4.3 Conceiving and engineering systems4.4 Designing4.5 Implementing4.6 Operating

CDIO Syllabus contains 2-3 more layers of detail

THE CDIO SYLLABUS V2.0 - 3RD LEVEL OF DETAIL (EXCERPT)

VALIDATION OF THE CDIO SYLLABUS: STAKEHOLDER SURVEY AT MIT

Sample: 6 groups surveyed: 1st- and 4th-year students, alumni 25 years old, alumni 35 years old, faculty, leaders of industry

Question: For each attribute, please indicate which of the five levels of proficiency you desire in a graduating engineering student:

Scale:

1 To have experienced or been exposed to

2 To be able to participate in and contribute to

3 To be able to understand and explain

4 To be skilled in the practice or implementation of

5 To be able to lead or innovate in

REMARKABLE AGREEMENT!

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Faculty

Industry

Y. Alum

O. Alum

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

1. Exposure

2. Participate

3. Understand

4. Skilled Practice

5. Innovate

PRIORITING LEARNING OUTCOMES – SURVEY OF FACULTY, ALUMNI, INDUSTRY LEADERS

VALIDATION AGAINST NATIONAL ACCREDITATION FRAMEWORKS

• The CDIO syllabus has been compared national accreditations in many countries

• Same pattern: – The CDIO Syllabus states

outcomes for engineering education that reflect a broader view of the engineering profession

– Its greater levels of detail facilitate program and course development.

– A program whose design is based on the CDIO Syllabus will also satisfy its national requirements for specified program outcomes.

ABET EC 2010 (USA)

CEAB (CANADA)

EUR-ACE (Europe)

THE CDIO SYLLABUS V 2.0 AS PROGRAM OUTCOMES

1.0 Disciplinary Knowledge and Reasoning

1.1

1.2

1.3

Demonstrate a capacity to use the principles of the underlying sciences…1.1.5 Use the Finite element method to solve partial differential equations…Apply the principles of fundamental engineering scienceDemonstrate a capacity to apply advanced engineering knowledge in the professional areas of engineering

2.0 Personal and Professional Skills and Attributes

2.12.2

2.32.4

2.5

Analyze and solve engineering problemsConduct investigations and experiments about engineering problemsThink systemicallyDemonstrate personal and professional habits that contribute to successful engineering practice Demonstrate ethics, equity, and other responsibilities in engineering practice

THE CDIO SYLLABUS V 2.0 AS PROGRAM OUTCOMES (CONT.)

3.0 Interpersonal Skills

3.13.23.3

Lead and work in groupsCommunicate effectivelyCommunicate effectively in one or more foreign languages.

4.0 CDIO

4.1

4.2

4.34.4

4.54.6

4.74.8

Recognize the importance of the social context in the practice of engineeringAppreciate different enterprise cultures and work successfully in organizations Conceive and develop engineering systems Design complex engineering systems…4.4.7 Compare and evaluate different product suggestions based on function, environmental impact, production and cost..Implement processes of hardware and software and manage the implementation process Operate complex systems and processes and manage operationsLead engineering endeavorsDemonstrate the skills of entrepreneurship

How can we do better at assuring that students learn these skills?

– Within the available student and faculty time, funding and other resources

VISION FOR A CDIO-BASED EDUCATION

• A curriculum organised around mutually supporting courses, but with CDIO activities highly interwoven

• Rich with student design-build projects

• Integrating learning of professional skills such as teamwork and communication

• Featuring active and experiential learning

• Constantly improved through quality assurance process with higher aims than accreditation

An education that stresses the fundamentals, set in the context of Conceiving – Designing – Implementing – Operating systems and products:

MORE AND MORE AUTHENTIC DESIGN EXPERIENCES IN THE EDUCATION

Provide the natural context in which to teach design, innovation, implementation skills

Provide a platform for training other CDIO syllabus skills (teamwork, communications etc)

Design-build experiences are instructional events in which learning occurs through the creation of a product, process, or system

Solar-drivenaircraft,KTH

Formula Student,Chalmers

THERE SHOULD BE MULTIPLE DESIGN–BUILD PROJECTS IN THE CURRICULUM

Intro to Mech Eng

Joint project in Machine elements

&Manuf technology

courses

Machinedesign

Mechatronicsproject course

Productdevelopment

project

Automotiveeng project

Creative,”conceptual” design

Design for manufacturing RedesignMultiple objectives

Creative design incl business aspectsCross-dept teams

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4

Simple prototypeQualitative

More advanced prototypeSome simulation

Company is customer

Prototype as neededMore simulation

PrototypeSimulation as neededCompany is customer

Operate

EXAMPLE:MIT AERO-ASTRO DEPARTMENT

Conceive Design

Implement

DEVELOP GENERIC SKILLS THROUGH INTEGRATED LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Generic skills are context-dependent and should be learned and assessed in the professional context (Bowden, Barrie, Edström… )

Integrated training of generic skills reinforces understanding of disciplinary content – they will acquire a deeper working knowledge of engineering fundamentals

...communicationas a generic skill...

...communicationas a contextualized

skill...

Integrated learning experiences develop both technical knowledge and “generic” skills (communication, teamwork, ethics, sustainability, etc)

GENERIC SKILLS IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION - EXAMPLE

Communication in engineering means being able to Use the technical concepts comfortably Discuss a problem of different levels Determine what factors are relevant to the

situation Argue for, or against, conceptual ideas and

solutions Develop ideas through discussion and

collaborative sketching Explain technical matters to different audiences Show confidence in expressing oneself within

the field

The same interpretation should be made for teamwork, problem solving, professional ethics, and other engineering skills.

INTEGRATE THE CURRICULUM

An integrated curriculum has a systematic assignment of program outcomes to learning activities and features a explicit plan for progressive integration of generic skills

Introductory course

Physics Product developm

Numerical Methods

Planned learning sequence -- Vehicle Engineering -- KTH

CDIO Syllabus

Mech IThermo-dynamicsMech II

Solid Mechanics

Sound and Vibrations

Math II

Fluid Mechanics

Math I Math III

Control Theory

Signal Analysis

Statistics

Electrical Eng.

Year 1 Year 3Year 2

FEM inEngineering

BachelorThesis

Opti-mization

3.2.3 Written communication

3.3 Communi- cation in English

DEVELOP ACTIVE AND EXPERIENTIALLEARNING ACTIVITIES

Year 1 lab example

Active and experiential learning engages students by setting teaching and learning in contexts that simulate engineering roles and practice

Reformed mathematics emphasizing simulation of realistic engineering problems

Working method based on modeling, simulation & analysis, MATLAB programming

Motivated importance of mathematics and applied mechanics courses

THE 12 CDIO STANDARDS – GUIDELINES FOR EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT

EFFECTIVE PRACTICE:THE CDIO STANDARDS

1. The ContextAdoption of the principle that product. Process, and system lifecycle development and deployment are the context for engineering education 2. Learning OutcomesSpecific, detailed learning outcomes for personal, interpersonal, and product,.process and system building skills, consistent with program goals and validated by program stakeholders 3. Integrated CurriculumA curriculum designed with mutually supporting disciplinary subjects, with an explicit plan to integrate personal, interpersonal, and product, process, and system building skills4. Introduction to EngineeringAn introductory course that provides the framework for engineering practice in product. Process, and system building, and introduces essential personal and interpersonal skills 5. Design-Implement ExperiencesA curriculum that includes two or more design-implement experiences, including one at a basic level and one at an advanced level6. Engineering WorkspacesWorkspaces and laboratories that support and encourage hands-on learning of product, process, and system building, disciplinary knowledge, and social learning

7. Integrated Learning ExperiencesIntegrated learning experiences that lead to the acquisition of disciplinary knowledge, as well as personal, interpersonal, and produc, process,t and system building skills8. Active LearningTeaching and learning based on active experiential learning methods9. Enhancement of Faculty Skills CompetenceActions that enhance faculty competence in personal, interpersonal, and product and system building skills10. Enhancement of Faculty Teaching CompetenceActions that enhance faculty competence in providing integrated learning experiences, in using active experiential learning methods, and in assessing student learning11. Learning AssessmentAssessment of student learning in personal, interpersonal, and product, process, and system building skills, as well as in disciplinary knowledge12. Program EvaluationA system that evaluates programs against these 12 standards, and provides feedback to students, faculty, and other stakeholders for the purposes of continuous improvement

CDIO IS A REFERENCE MODEL, NOT A PRESCRIPTION

Everything has to be translated-transformed to fit the context and conditions of each university / program

You are probably doing some CDIO elements already

Take what you want to use, transform it as you wish, give it a new name, assume ownership

CDIO provides a toolbox for working through the process

CURRENT AND EMERGING CHALLENGESFOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION

• Need to educate engineers to be more effective leaders and entrepreneurs

• Need to educate engineers to work in interdisciplinary teams

• Need for more experiential and project-based learning

• Adaptation of engineering education to prepare for increasing globalization

• Increasing awareness and response to environmental changes

CDIO SYLLABUS, ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS

CDIO syllabus skills

Engineeringleadership

Entrepreneurship

CDIO+EL SYLLABUS COMPONENTS

Engineering Leadership

4.7 Leading engineering endeavors

Creating a Purposeful Vision4.7.1 Identifying the issue, Problem or Paradox4.7.2 Thinking Creatively and Communicating

Possibilities4.7.3 Defining the Solution4.7.4 Creating New Solution Concepts

Delivering on the Vision4.7.5 Building and Leading Organizations and

Extended Organizations4.7.6 Planning and Managing a Project to

Completion4.7.7 Exercising Project/Solution Judgment

and Critical Reasoning4.7.8 Innovation – the Conception, Design and

Introduction of New Goods and Services4.7.9 Invention – the Development of New

Devices, Materials or Processes that Enable New Goods and Services

4.7.10 Implementation and Operation – the Creation and Operation of the Goods

and Service that will Deliver Value

Entrepreneurship

4.8 Engineering Entrepreneurship

4.8.1 Company Founding, Leadership and Organization

4.8.2 Business Plan Development4.8.3 Company Capitalization and Finances4.8.4 Innovative Product Marketing4.8.5 Conceiving Products and Services around New Technologies

4.8.6 The Innovation System, Networks, Infrastructure and Services

4.8.7 Building the Team and Initiating Engineering Processes

4.8.8 Managing Intellectual Property

CDIO Syllabus 4.7-4.8 contain one more layer of detail

EXAMPLE: GORDON ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP PROGRAM (MIT)

Mission:

To educate and develop the character of outstanding MIT students as potential future leaders in the world of engineering practice and development, and to endeavor to transform engineering leadership* in the nation, thereby significantly increasing its product development capability.

* Engineering leadership is defined as the technical leadership of the innovative conception, design and implementation of new products/processes/projects/materials/molecules/ software/systems

CURRICULUM

A STRATEGY FOR LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN A CDIO PROGRAM

Sustainable development of products and systems is a vital part of Chalmers’ ME programme. We educate engineers that are well-prepared to create and develop products and systems that

improve safety and quality of life for a growing population. (abbrev)

Fundamental sustainability knowledge

2nd year course inSustainable ProductDevelopment

Integrated & applied sustainability knowledge

Integrated learningexperiences in- Intro to ME- Solid mechanics

- Materials- Manufacturing- …

Integrated in all master programs, eg CO2-minimizing manufacturing design in Production engineering

Advancedsustainability knowledge

Specialisedsustainability knowledge

Master programs in:Sustainable energysystemsIndustrial ecology

Chalmers University of Technology, 5-year MScEng programme in Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor Master

INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN BACHELOR PART

Year 1

Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

Intro course in mathematics Calculus in a single

variableLinear algebra

Calculus in several variables

Programming in MATLAB

CAD

Mechanics and statics

Strength of materials Introduction to mechanical engineering

Year 2

Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

Mechanics: Dynamics

Machine elements Thermodynamics and energy technology

Industrial production and organisation

Integrated design and manufacturing project

Material science Material &

manufacturing technology

Sustainable product

developmentIndustrial Economics

Year 3

Quarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4

MechatronicsAutomatic control

7.5 ECTSBachelor diploma project

Fluid mechanics Elective 1 Elective 2 Mathematical

statistics

Fundamental sustainabilityknowledge

Integrated sustainability learning experiences(> 1 ECTS)

Planned sustainability learning sequences (examples)

CDIO-BASED EDUCATION FORSUSTAINABLE INNOVATION

• 4th year Product development project course, interdisciplinary student teams

• Design-build and business development for sustainable innovations

• Collaboration with start ups and established firms

Ultralight electric vehicle (CleanMotion)

Wave energy (Vigor Wave)

Solar tracker actuator (SKF)

CONCLUDING REMARKS

• The CDIO approach provides a reference model for engineering education where professional practice and innovation is focused

• The CDIO approach is codified in the CDIO syllabus and standards. CDIO elements can be used as an integrated set or piecewise, are subject to adaptation to local context etc

• CDIO is an open endeavor – you are all welcome to participate and contribute - 97 universities worldwide are now members of the CDIO Initiative

• To learn more, visit www.cdio.org or read Rethinking Engineering Education: The CDIO Approach by Crawley, Malmqvist, Östlund, & Brodeur, 2007

Thank you for listening!

Any questions or comments?