ABSTRACT
Professional engineers operate in an increasingly sophisticated, global world. Often working on international projects or in international locations, engineers must be agile team players, adept communicators, reflective, and able to operate effectively within an interdisciplinary and multi-cultural working environment. The weeks are based on a “problem-based learning” approach within a spiral curriculum, whereby a core set of knowledge and skills are identified, and then revisited with increasing levels of sophistication. The spiral extends into the third and fourth years when students build on their core skills while undertaking their disciplinary group design projects. The students are organized into teams of six. Each team has no more than two members from any one department and a home/international student mix that reflects the faculty as a whole. Engineering knowledge, necessary to progress the problem, is introduced in the early part of each week, followed by sessions on skills, timed to precede the practising of the skill.
