Despite the increasing magnitude and frequency of disasters, it remains unclear whether civil engineers possess the ability to understand disaster risk and design resilient infrastructures.

This episode features Anup Shrestha from Water and Development Research Group, School of Engineering, Aalto University (Finland).

We talk about the winner of the ‘Best Student Paper’ at the SEFI 2025 Conference entitled “Are Disaster-Prone Countries’ Undergraduate Students Prepared? Insights from a Civil Engineering Program in Nepal” which Anup co-authored with Julia Sundman, Josias Láng-Ritter, Maija Taka, Olli Varis (Aalto University) and Sudeep Lamsal (Sagarmatha Engineering College).

The paper considers the degree to which undergraduate civil engineering students in disaster-prone countries are adequately prepared. The research involves the use of a questionnaire to evaluate Nepalese students’ knowledge of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), resilience concepts, and related competencies. Students were found to exhibit DRR knowledge, but had limited opportunities to participate in DRR courses, workshops, or training. Whilst they possessed the basic concepts of resilience, there was a notable gap in their ability to apply these concepts in designing resilient structures. The research team thus suggest that additional efforts focus on integrating these competencies into engineering curricula.

For the full paper, follow this link:https://acris.aalto.fi/ws/portalfiles/portal/202473945/SEFI2025_040.pdf

This is the third episode from the new SEFI Podcast: Publication Spotlight series which aims to complement our normal, longer length shows. In these episodes, we speak with authors of recent publications to bring you up to date with some of the latest work within engineering education.

Timestamps

0.00 Welcome and introduction

0.27 Introduction to the episode an publication

1.08 How the work came about and the research team

4.25 Summary of the work

5.18 The research gap

7.36 Disaster risk reduction (DRR)

10.58 The research questions

12.10 Methodology

13.38 The findings

16.58 Implications for engineering education research and practice

20.24 Contextual differences

22.48 Staff and student perceptions to integrating DRR and resilience

26.27 What's next?

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Education, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineering

educators: www.sefi.be

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The rising complexity of modern societal challenges has intensified interest in interdisciplinary engineering education.

In this episode we speak to Professor Anette Kolmos (Professor in Engineering Education and PBL) and Dr Henrik Worm Routhe (Postdoctoral Researcher) from Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark, about InterPBL and the different approaches that can be taken to interdisciplinary learning and teaching.

Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Prof. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn about the many different ways in which we can integrate interdisciplinary projects into our engineering courses.

Timestamps

0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode

0.25 Podcast Intro

0.52 Experiences with interdisciplinary from Natalie and Neil

2.30 Introduction to Anette and Henrik

7.20 Aalborg University (AAU)

9.18 Introduction to InterPBL

13.00 Examples of the challenges associated with interdisciplinary project work

14.34 Aims of the InterPBL project

17.04 Interdisciplinary in engineering practice

21.00 Definitions

24.25 Cognitive trust and boundary objects

31.00 How does interdisciplinary work impact identity?

35.28 A typology of interdisciplinary projects

48.32 Students' motivation

50.57 Leadership

55.21 Assessment of interdisciplinary

58.41 Implications for staff and capacity building

1:00:50 Measuring the effectiveness of interdisciplinary learning and teaching

1:05:40 Introducting interdisciplinary in your own context

1:09:56 Mega-projects (M-Project) and broad interdisciplinary

1:15:25 Key Takeaways and implications from Anette and Henrik

1:25:38 What is next for research in this area?

1:28:48 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil

Resources

A small sample of papers which focus on the InterPBL project are linked below

This paper focuses on student learning outcomes of interdisciplinary work

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10171180

This provides insights from a narrow interdisciplinary curriculum project named “leadENG

https://vbn.aau.dk/en/publications/interdisciplinary-problem-based-projects-for-first-year-engineeri/

This paper focuses on development of leadership competencies

https://vbn.aau.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/752930995/17_ijee4479.pdf

These papers focus on the different project types

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/2/138

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03043797.2023.2267476

Join us! Become a member of the European Society for Engineering

Education, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineering

educators: www.sefi.be

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Although recognised as a priority for engineering education, implementation of Sustainable Development (SD) in curricula has been mixed and limited.

This episode features Marie Paretti from Virginia Tech and Maya Menon from the EdTech startup NextWork. We talk about a paper published in the European Journal of Engineering Education entitled “Understanding instructor decision-making in engineering education for sustainable development: a comparison of institutions in Denmark and the United States” which Maya and Marie co-authored with Jennifer Case and Andrew Katz. The study compared the external, internal (institutional) and individual influences on instructors’ decision-making, in relation to the incorporation of SD into the courses they teach within institutions in two different national contexts.

This episode is the second in our series of episodes that take on a new format and are released at intervals along with our normal longer length shows.

For the full paper, follow this link: https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2025.2486189

Timestamps

0.00 Welcome and introduction

0.29 Introduction to the episode an publication

1.25 How the work came about and the research team

3.12 Summary of the work

4.02 The research gap

5.16 The research questions

7.27 Terminology; Sustainability, Sustainable Development and the UN SDGs

10.50 Theoretical underpinnings

13.58 Comparative Case Study Methodology

18.04 Data sources and analysis

21.12 The findings

29:49 Implications for engineering education practice

32.31 Implications for engineering education research

35.23 Goodbyes

Join us! Become a member of the European Society for Engineering

Education, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineering

educators: www.sefi.be

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Engineering is a global profession, with various efforts focusing on the globalisation of engineering practice. However, there are many differences between engineering education systems in different contexts.

In this episode we discuss what we can learn by comparing engineering education across contexts with Professor Roger Gonzalez from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), author of the monograph “Adapting Engineering Education to a Rapidly Changing World” which focuses on the differences between engineering education systems, particularly those associated with the UK and the USA.

Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Prof. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn about the ways in which students are contributing their their own engineering education, and what we can learn from them.

Timestamps

0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode

0.25 Podcast Intro

0.50 Experiences with students collaboration from Natalie and Neil

2.13 Introduction to Roger and his work

5.04 Introduction to UTEP

6.44 Why is this work needed and why now?

10.15 How was the work conducted?

12.44 Differences in terms of student admissions into engineering

15.58 Implications for widening access and participation

19.10 Why are there differences between contexts?

22.42 Differences in length and structure of programmes, teaching, learning and assessment and the role of student unions

29.42 Differences in content of the degree

33.01 Degree variants and the role of industry

36.12 The role of Quality Assurance (QA) and student feedback and the role of funding

45.24 Accreditation

48.35 What can we learn from the differences?

53.42 How do these learnings apply to other contexts and countries?

54.47 How will engineering education change in the future; AI.

1:02:35 Key Takeaways from Roger

1:05:02 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil

Key Resources

You can access Roger’s monograph by following the link below

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-78908-3

Join us! Become a member of the European Society for Engineering

Education, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineering

educators: www.sefi.be

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This is our first episode which takes the new format which we will be released at intervals along with our normal longer length shows. In these episodes we will be bringing you up to date with some of the latest work within engineering education by speaking with authors of recent publications.

For our first episode of this I am speaking with Madeline Polmear from Kings College London, who featured in our very first season of the podcast.

And we are going to talk about a paper published in the Journal of Engineering Education entitled Exploring engagement narratives among self-identified Hispanic women's experiences in engineering counterspaces which Madeline co-authored with Elizabeth Volpe, Idalis Villanueva Alarcón and Denise Simmons.

For the full paper, follow this link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jee.20630

Timestamps

0.00 Welcome and introduction

0.27 Introduction to the episode an publication

1.22 The research team

3.08 Summary of the work

4.30 The research gap

5.58 The research questions

6.35 Theoretical underpinnings

10.15 Methodology; Data Collection and analysis

12.21 The findings

15.32 Implications for engineering education practice

17.12 Implications for engineering education research

19.10 Goodbyes

Join us! Become a member of the European Society for Engineering

Education, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineering

educators: www.sefi.be

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We can't really talk about engineering education without talking about engineering students. But in this episode we talk to them! We attempt to bridge the gap between engineering educators and students by directly asking them what they think. In so doing, we welcome Katrijn Vandenborne (current President of BEST) and Nadica Koloska (co-ordinator for the Educational Involvement Department) from the Board of European Students of Technology (BEST).

Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Prof. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn about the ways in which students are contributing their their own engineering education, and what we can learn from them.

Timestamps

0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode

0.29 Podcast Intro

0.46 Experiences with students collaboration from Natalie and Neil

2.47 Introduction to Katrijn and Nadica

6.30 The history of BEST

8.04 The relationship with SEFI

10.48 Managing student turnover

12.11 Professional development courses

14.55 Career support

16.20 Symposium on Education

19.02 The Education Involvement Department

20.58 Stakeholders

28.35 Topics of interest within BEST: professional skills, the responsible engineer, assessment and AI

39.45 What should educators remove from engineering programmes?

43.00 Diversifying membership and the student voice

47.19 The benefits of being part of BEST

53.02 What's next?

56.33 How do students get involved in BEST?

59.06 Key Takeaways from Katrijn and Nadica

1.01.48 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil

Key Resources

https://www.best.eu.org/index.jsp

Join us! Become a member of the European Society for Engineering

Education, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineering

educators: www.sefi.be

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Welcome to the highlights episode for season 6! We have reached the end of season 6 and 3+ years of podcasting.

Neil and Natalie would like to thank all listeners and guests for their continued support in making the podcast a valuable source of information regarding contemporary topics in engineering education.

Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Professor Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) for this episode in which they summarise the recent interviews.

00.00 - Introduction

00.38 - Welcome, podcast updates, the future of the podcast

03.50 - Robyn Mae Paul and Kari Zacharias on the Iron Ring

12.00 - Siara Isaac and Joelyn de Lima on the 3T Play Project for Transversal Skills

18.58 - Kurt Coppens on feedback literacy

24.36 - Mariana Velho on public engagement and outreach

29.29 - Call for guests, and ideas on topics and guests

Join us! Become a member of the European Society for Engineering Education, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineering educators: www.sefi.be

music (c) Lizzie Cooke all rights reserved.

Written and produced by Neil Cooke and Natalie Wint.

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Attracting students to study engineering, and helping society understand what engineers do, are ongoing challenges within engineering education.

In this episode we spoke to Mariana Velho, Communication, Education and Outreach Manager for CERN openlab. Mariana draws upon her background in psychology, education and outreach, to manage various communication projects and campaigns, and manage stakeholder relationships.

Join Dr. Natalie Wint (University College London) and Dr. Neil Cooke (University of Birmingham) to learn about the use of science communication and outreach in encouraging students to study engineering.

Timestamps

0.00 Welcome and introduction to episode

0.23 Podcast Intro

0.48 Experiences with science communication and outreach from Natalie and Neil

3.20 Introduction to Mariana

6.47 The importance of science communication

7.28 ATLAS Experiment and CERN

8.44 The role of psychology in science communication

11.46 CERN

14.44 CERN openlab

16.47 Mariana's role within CERN

19.28 Developing the scientists and engineers of tomorrow

21.22 The Summer Placement

27.36 Science communication skills

31.32 Educational resources

37.11 Microsoft Dreamspace and spatial skills

43.24 Engineering in the future

48.11 What's next?

51.54 Key Takeaways from Mariana

53.20 Key takeaways from Natalie and Neil

Key Resources

https://marianadantasvelho.com/

https://openlab.cern/about/collaborate-us

https://atlas.cern/Resources/Colouring-Books

https://dreamspace.microsoft.com/en-us/dreamspace/ireland

Join us! Become a member of the European Society for Engineering

Education, SEFI, Europe's largest network of engineering

educators: www.sefi.be

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