IEEE Young Professionals’ Post

The University of Pretoria (UP) is at the forefront of an exciting engineering education transformation spearheaded by Prof Lelanie Smith. Through pioneering efforts and international collaboration, the national Innovative Engineering Curricula team is redefining how engineering curricula are developed and delivered across South Africa. The initiative is funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the University Capacity Development Program. It is coordinated and facilitated by a national team representing 12 of South Africa’s 16 engineering schools and University College London (UCL) as a formal partner. It integrates expertise from academia, industry, and accreditation bodies. The programme focuses on developing a cohesive understanding of an integrative South African curriculum and preparing students and staff for innovative and creative engineering education. Read more:  https://bit.ly/3L89nKX #engineering #engineeringcurricula #developingcurricula #future #futureofwork #reskilling #skills #education #study #nationalcollaboration #engineeringschools #capacitydevelopment #accreditationbodies #immersivelearning #groundbreaking #relevantcurricula #innovation #UniversityOfPretoria #EBITrocks #benchmarking #internationalbenchmarking #globalrelevancy

International support for engineering education in Africa Professor Lelanie Smith, Co-founder and Co-Director of the Engineering Education Research Network Africa (EERN-Africa), recently secured support from the Intra-Africa Mobility Scheme of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). The consortium, which was formally established through connections made via the EERN-Africa network, came together to apply for this funding. The capacity-building for Engineering Education (CB4EE) project focuses on developing transformative research capacities and co-creating actionable knowledge to support systemic change in engineering educator development and address modern global challenges. African institutions currently lag in integrating climate change knowledge into engineering education, a gap this project aims to fill. Engineering work is crucial to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the quality of engineering graduates acting as a key enabler for ethical and sustainable development. Read more: https://bit.ly/3XPrOM7 #engineeringeducation #engineeringcurruculum #researchnetwork #africa #globalsupport #innovation #future #employment #skills #trailblazing #culture #STEMeducation #UniversityOfPretoria

International support for engineering education in Africa Professor Lelanie Smith, Co-founder and Co-Director of the Engineering Education Research Network Africa (EERN-Africa), recently secured support from the Intra-Africa Mobility Scheme of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). The consortium, which was formally established through connections made via the EERN-Africa network, came together to apply for this funding. The capacity-building for Engineering Education (CB4EE) project focuses on developing transformative research capacities and co-creating actionable knowledge to support systemic change in engineering educator development and address modern global challenges. African institutions currently lag in integrating climate change knowledge into engineering education, a gap this project aims to fill. Engineering work is crucial to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the quality of engineering graduates acting as a key enabler for ethical and sustainable development. Read more:  https://bit.ly/3XPrOM7 #engineeringeducation #engineeringcurruculum #researchnetwork #africa #globalsupport #relevantcurriculum #innovation #future #employment #skills #trailblazing #culture #STEMeducation #study #UniversityOfPretoria

🎉 CELEBRATING A MILESTONE IN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING FOR A GREENER FUTURE! 🌐🔧 We are thrilled to share a momentous achievement by the Botswana International University of Science & Technology (BIUST) and the NeDMEV partnership! 🚀 Breaking New Grounds: The Network for Zero-defect and Zero-waste Digital Manufacturing (NeDMEV) initiative, an offshoot of the Education for Laser-based Manufacturing (ELbM) consortium, has secured a substantial €1,793,760 in funding. 🌍💡 Empowering African Talent: This funding is a beacon of hope, as it will empower postgraduate research students in advanced manufacturing across Africa. Their expertise will be honed in the practical application of digital manufacturing (DM) processes, focusing on creating defect- and waste-free products. 🛠️💚 Driving Sustainable Transformation: The overarching goal is clear—to drive the transformation of African economies, with a special focus on Botswana, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya. This initiative aligns perfectly with our commitment to fostering a knowledge-based society and training a critical mass of DM engineers for a sustainable future. 🌿🌟 Cheers to Innovation, Education, and Sustainable Progress! 🥂🌐 #BIUST #NeDMEV #DigitalManufacturing #SustainableDevelopment #GreenInnovation #AfricanExcellence 🌍✨ Botswana International University of Science & Technology

NUST establish U.S.Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E) to address some of the outstanding challenges faced by the energy section in Pakistan and to facilitate applied research and education partnership between USA and Pakistan. Strategic goals behind USPCAS-E are to evolve into a Centre of Excellence in Applied Research catering to the Energy Sector and economy of Pakistan with the aim to establish efficient governance structures – sustainability, value-added curriculum and capacity building; promote applied research to serve public/private sector and NUST-US students/faculty exchange programs. #USPCASE #NUST

Recap of ACTIVE CLIMATE ACTION Project Introduction: The ICT Applications for sustaInable enVironmental protEction (ACTIVE) project is a unique initiative aimed at bridging the gap between ICT engineering and environmental sciences in Pakistan. The project is centered around capacity building and interdisciplinary training to leverage ICT for addressing pressing environmental and climatic challenges that urban and rural areas face in Pakistan. By collaborating with partner universities located across the country, we are uniquely positioned to address the diverse environmental concerns specific to each region. The ACTIVE project addresses a critical need in today's education and industry - the convergence of ICT and environmental sciences. While many programs focus on ICT engineering or environmental sciences, they often operate in silos, limiting the scope and effectiveness of their solutions. ACTIVE seeks to integrate these areas, training ICT engineers with a strong understanding of environmental science to create more impactful and sustainable solutions for environmental and climatic issues. https://lnkd.in/eZFYbaE2

The year is 202(something). I'm at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting #TRBAM, in Washington, DC, standing proudly by a poster titled "A Machine Learning Approach for Predicting Public Transportation Demand Using Geospatial Data Fusion," or something more sophisticated. Eager attendees crowd around as I fluently discuss my research as a PhD candidate at a top university. A few senior researchers nod approvingly and exchange impressed glances. I smoothly hand out my card when people ask to collaborate. Back to reality 😅 - I'm currently in my bedroom in Benin City, Nigeria, staring wistfully at various LinkedIn posts of practically all transportation researchers and practitioners I follow, wondering how to make that vision an actual reality someday. My LinkedIn feed is literally swarming with posts with the #TRBAM hashtag so I'm just sitting here feeling major FOMO. 😅 The #TRBAM is like the Super Bowl of transportation research conferences. Over 13,000 of the top minds in transportation engineering, policy, and technology converge in Washington D.C. every January to present cutting-edge research through over 5,000 presentations and posters. As a young, eager civil engineering graduate, attending and one day PRESENTING at this transportation research mecca is a dream of mine. The ideas, the potential breakthrough collaborations, the palpable excitement over changing the future of transportation - that's why I want to be there. This conference represents the pinnacle of innovation in my field. From where I sit right now, it feels so unattainable. But I'm determined. I'm working hard to get to a place where my big dreams become a reality. But for now, I'll channel my FOMO into preparation. One day I'll be live posting from a TRB session or standing awkwardly in a corner at the networking social. A girl can dream right? 😅 Until then, I'll be obsessively reading the TRB annual meeting program from home and preparing for my future debut. 😉 #trb #TRBAM2024 #transportation #transportationengineering

It's wonderful to e-meet everyone before the holidays and conclude 2023 on a strong note. The CCWATER Monthly Progress Meeting occurred in a hybrid format today, focusing on updates regarding work packages and setting the direction for forthcoming initiatives. These include the Winter School and the concluding meeting in #China. CCWATER, an #erasmusplus #project, boasts collaboration among 11 universities spanning 6 countries, all orchestrated by the coordination of NMBU - Norwegian University of Life Sciences, #norway. The project's primary objective is to fortify water-related higher education in the six partner countries. The aim is to enhance resilience against the impacts of climate change by equipping #highereducation institutions (HEIs) with modern technology, as well as fostering the development of #competencies and #skills through contemporary teaching resources for #climatechangeadaptation #capacitybuilding For further details, please visit: https://lnkd.in/dU2Gyr9R

“If we want to achieve the SDGs we need more Green and Sustainable Chemistry education - globally and as soon as possible. The change to a chemistry that is greener and more sustainable requires awareness, engagement and action by a wide range of stakeholders - from individuals, researchers to managers to policy-makers. The shift needs support from education institutions and increased awareness that can leverage the needed green, and just transition.“ - Anna Becker, Policy Director ISC3 Today was an important day at the ICCM5! The Youth Forum marked a historic moment for the United Nations and governments as young people could directly speak about their needs and priorities for the future of chemicals governance. They want to see targeted policies and programmes developed that will specifically address youth and childrens environmental health, rights and justice in the context of chemical exposures, monitoring and risk assessments. Our Policy Director Anna Isabel Becker took part in the one-day Youth Forum in a Panel Presentation on: Upgrading Educational Systems for a Green and Sustainable Chemistry Revolution together with: ·       Dr. Juliana Vidal- Program Manager of Higher Education at Beyond Benign—Green Chemistry for a Sustainable Future ·       Amy Louise Summerton - Chemical Industries Association (CIA) Young Ambassador ·  ola al-hajj - Founder of Syria RECO Environmental Project, Applied Chemistry Student at Tishreen University, and MENA Focal Point of Chemicals and Waste Youth Platform The ISC3 created and collected various on-demand trainings, self-paced online learning courses, study courses and an online library for you to dive into. Check out the training portfolio that will be extended constantly: https://lnkd.in/eMktfbn3 #SustainableChemistry #education #youth #ISC3policy

As we wrapped up the third day of the UNESCO Africa Engineering Week 2023 I meditated on the months of planning and execution and I marvelled at the success of the three days that was the conference. It is fulfilling and beautiful when it all comes together! Well done to the ECSA President, Executive and staff. Take aways: 1. Transformation of Africa’s education and training is needed. 2. Consideration to be given to establishing an African Accord. 3. Female engineers bring ingenious input to projects because we approach engineering problems not only from a purely technical perspective but also from a gender perspective. 4. Encouragement of STEM careers in girls must be made priority. Serious consideration is required for the retention of girls in STEM. 5. Institutionalisation of the role of engineers is required- When it comes to infrastructure and utilities, Engineers should be involved in decision making, formulation of development plans (at every level ), detemining budgets, planning, execution, maintenance, etc. 6. Development of standards for the continent as well as globally. We should have set smart goals for the items that are within our control so that we can hold ourselves accountable and discuss progress at the next conference.