Water and energy are fundamental elements of community well-being and economic development, and a key focus of engineering efforts the world over. As such, they offer outstanding opportunities for the development of socially just engineering practices. This work examines the engineering of water and energy systems with a focus on issues of social justice and sustainability. A key theme running through the work is engaging community on water and energy engineering projects: How is this achieved in diverse contexts? And, what can we learn from past failures and successes in water and energy engineering? The book includes a detailed case study of issues involved in the provision of water and energy, among other needs, in a developing and newly independent nation, East Timor.
Help young children develop problem-solving skills, and you'll boost their kindergarten readiness and set them up for long-term success in STEM subjects. In this timely and practical book, you'll discover how to support the problem-solving skills of all young children by teaching them basic practices of engineering and five types of critical thinking skills (Curiosity, Persistence, Flexibility, Reflection, and Collaboration), and discover how to sharpen all these skills as a teacher. Using a clear instructional framework and fun activities tailored for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, you'll help children birth to 5 explore big ideas and develop new ways of thinking through engaging and challenging learning experiences. A must for teachers in inclusive early education classrooms, this comprehensive guide is your key to teaching the 21st -century skills children need for STEM learning and school success. The book you need to: support school readiness; demystify and teach key engineering practices; boost problem-solving skills with proven activities; plan effective lessons for all children; start learning early; encourage language and literacy development; and promote other skills needed for school success. Practical materials include: classroom activities that incorporate children's books; self-reflection checklists; practical strategies and modifications; Early Childhood UDL Planning Sheets; and blank Experience Planning Templates for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
This book presents an overview of engineering as it relates to humanitarian engineering, service-learning engineering, peace engineering, or engineering for community-led development, programs that are often grouped under Engineering for Good or Engineering for Change. By placing “community” at the center of these endeavors, this book invites readers and practitioners to strive for sustainable community development (SCD). This 2nd edition is centered on new concepts of community-led development and includes topics on the history of engineers and development, the problems of using industry-based practices when designing for communities, how engineers can prepare to work with communities, and listening in community development. Two case studies are provided to highlight the book’s concepts using first-hand experiences of engineers engaged with communities—one of engineers developing a windmill for a community in India, and a second of an engineer mapping communities in Honduras for improved water management. The book concludes with student perspectives and experiences from a curricular model focused on engineering for sustainable community development. Overall, the text invites engineers to reflect and prepare themselves for global careers that involve international development in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. This 2nd edition places community-led practices at the heart of these endeavors. The book is for engineering faculty, students and practicing engineers, involved in current or future community collaborations. The authors wrote this book with a goal to help readers critically reflect on their own practices and perceptions. Readers learn to question past, current, and future frameworks in the project of development, and are encouraged to adopt practices of community-led development. This 2nd edition is aimed at engineering students who, as future global engineers, are faced with opportunities and challenges when working with communities. As funding for renewable energy, “green jobs,” and community-based initiatives continue to increase, engineers will need to rely on the social and historical concepts presented in this book.
This book, Engineering and Sustainable Community Development, presents an overview of engineering as it relates to humanitarian engineering, service learning engineering, or engineering for community development, often called sustainable community development (SCD). The topics covered include a history of engineers and development, the problems of using industry-based practices when designing for communities, how engineers can prepare to work with communities, and listening in community development. It also includes two case studies -- one of engineers developing a windmill for a community in India, and a second of an engineer "mapping communities" in Honduras to empower people to use water effectively -- and student perspectives and experiences on one curricular model dealing with community development. Table of Contents: Introduction / Engineers and Development: From Empires to Sustainable Development / Why Design for Industry Will Not Work as Design for Community / Engineering with Community / Listening to Community / ESCD Case Study 1: Sika Dhari's Windmill / ESCD Case Study 2: Building Organizations and Mapping Communities in Honduras / Students' Perspectives on ESCD: A Course Model / Beyond Engineers and Community: A Path Forward
Engineered to Speak: Helping You Create and Deliver Engaging Technical Presentations Technical expertise alone is not enough to ensure professional success. Twenty-first century engineers and technical professionals must master making the complex simple and the simple interesting. This book helps engineers do what they love most: take a complicated system and create a stronger solution. You will learn tips and strategies that help you answer one essential question, “How can I get better at sharing my ideas with a variety of audiences?” In Engineered to Speak, Alexa Chilcutt and Adam Brooks combine their expertise in messaging and public speaking with research that illustrates how effective communication contributes to career advancement. Each chapter contains inspiring stories from practicing engineers around the world as well as useful examples, exercises and repeatable processes for creating compelling messages. This book helps technical talent become better speakers, better communicators, and ultimately better leaders. This helpful guide demystifies the art of oral communication by breaking it down into ten easy-to-follow-processes that can improve the ability of professionals at any level. By the end of Engineered to Speak, you’ll understand how to gain buy-in, identify and expand your Sphere of Influence, amplify your message, deliver compelling presentations, and learn from those who’ve embrace these skills and enjoyed professional success.
Mining has been entangled with the development of communities in all continents since the beginning of large-scale resource extraction. It has brought great wealth and prosperity, as well as great misery and environmental destruction. Today, there is a greater awareness of the urgent need for engineers to meet the challenge of extracting declining mineral resources more efficiently, with positive and equitable social impact and minimal environmental impact. Many engineering disciplines—from software to civil engineering—play a role in the life of a mine, from its inception and planning to its operation and final closure. The companies that employ these engineers are expected to uphold human rights, address community needs, and be socially responsible. While many believe it is possible for mines to make a profit and achieve these goals simultaneously, others believe that these are contradictory aims. This book narrates the social experience of mining in two very different settings—Papua New Guinea and Western Australia—to illustrate how political, economic, and cultural contexts can complicate the simple idea of "community engagement." Table of Contents: Preface / Mining in History / The Ok Tedi Mine in Papua New Guinea / Mining and Society in Western Australia / Acting on Knowledge / References / Author Biographies
Environmental engineers support the well-being of people and the planet in areas where the two intersect. Over the decades the field has improved countless lives through innovative systems for delivering water, treating waste, and preventing and remediating pollution in air, water, and soil. These achievements are a testament to the multidisciplinary, pragmatic, systems-oriented approach that characterizes environmental engineering. Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges outlines the crucial role for environmental engineers in this period of dramatic growth and change. The report identifies five pressing challenges of the 21st century that environmental engineers are uniquely poised to help advance: sustainably supply food, water, and energy; curb climate change and adapt to its impacts; design a future without pollution and waste; create efficient, healthy, resilient cities; and foster informed decisions and actions.
We accomplish extraordinary things when we do ordinary things together. This heartfelt and hopeful conviction led LSU professor Marybeth Lima to begin the LSU Community Playground Project in an attempt to involve her students in the larger Baton Rouge community. Fifteen years and over seven hundred students later, Building Playgrounds, Engaging Communities tells the story of the Playground Project's ongoing partnership with area public schools to build safe, fun, accessible, kid-designed playgrounds. Lima's experiences with the Playground Project range from outright failures to hard-won victories. Overcoming the challenges of working with scarce resources, Lima persevered despite many setbacks. Her accounts brim with hope, humor, and dedication. Building Playgrounds, Engaging Communities emphasizes the major impact people can have when they work together for the common good -- whether by building playgrounds, establishing neighborhood gardens, or having honest, respectful conversations. To this end, Lima provides an appendix with practical advice for local engagement. People wanting to get involved in their communities can use this book as a road map; those active in long-term endeavors can draw on it for ideas and inspiration.
Guide your students through the fascinating world of engineering, and how to draw inspiration from Nature’s genius to create, make, and innovate a better human-built world. Studded with more than 150 illustrations of natural phenomena and engineering concepts, this fascinating and practical book clearly demonstrates how engineering design is broadly relevant for all students, not just those who may become scientists or engineers. Mr. Stier describes clever, engaging activities for students at every grade level to grasp engineering concepts by exploring the everyday design genius of the natural world around us. Students will love learning about structural engineering while standing on eggs; investigating concepts in sustainable design by manufacturing cement out of car exhaust; and coming to understand how ant behavior has revolutionized the way computer programs, robots, movies, and video games are designed today. You will come away with an understanding of engineering and Nature unlike any you’ve had before, while taking your ability to engage students to a whole new level. Engineering Education for the Next Generation is a wonderful introduction to the topic for any teacher who wants to understand more about engineering design in particular, its relation to the larger subjects of STEM/STEAM, and how to engage students from all backgrounds in a way that meaningfully transforms their outlook on the world and their own creativity in a lifelong way. · Fun to read, comprehensive exploration of cutting-edge approaches to K-12 engineering education · Detailed descriptions and explanations to help teachers create activities and lessons · An emphasis on engaging students with broad and diverse interests and backgrounds · Insights from a leading, award-winning K-12 engineering curriculum that has reached thousands of teachers and students in the U.S. and beyond · Additional support website (www.LearningWithNature.org) providing more background, videos, curricula, slide decks, and other supplemental materials
In science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in pre-college, engineering is not the silent "e" anymore. There is an accelerated interest in teaching engineering in all grade levels. Structured engineering programs are emerging in schools as well as in out-of-school settings. Over the last ten years, the number of states in the US including engineering in their K-12 standards has tripled, and this trend will continue to grow with the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards. The interest in pre-college engineering education stems from three different motivations. First, from a workforce pipeline or pathway perspective, researchers and practitioners are interested in understanding precursors, influential and motivational factors, and the progression of engineering thinking. Second, from a general societal perspective, technological literacy and understanding of the role of engineering and technology is becoming increasingly important for the general populace, and it is more imperative to foster this understanding from a younger age. Third, from a STEM integration and education perspective, engineering processes are used as a context to teach science and math concepts. This book addresses each of these motivations and the diverse means used to engage with them.Designed to be a source of background and inspiration for researchers and practitioners alike, this volume includes contributions on policy, synthesis studies, and research studies to catalyze and inform current efforts to improve pre-college engineering education. The book explores teacher learning and practices, as well as how student learning occurs in both formal settings, such as classrooms, and informal settings, such as homes and museums. This volume also includes chapters on assessing design and creativity.
