Conference Session

Careers and Professional Development in BME

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Timothy Allen, University of Virginia; Shayn Peirce-Cottler, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

development of technical skills:knowledge of mathematics and the sciences, problem solving, engineering practice,experimentation, and design. However, non-technical skills – the so-called professional skills –are increasingly seen as essential to the complete education of a modern engineer, thus leading tothese skills’ explicit delineation in ABET Criterion 3, Program Outcomes d, f, g, h, i, and j.1However, there has been considerable debate as to how such skills (sometimes less favorably Page 13.278.2referred to as “soft skills”) are most effectively taught and assessed.2A national survey of capstone courses in multiple engineering departments showed

Conference Session

Careers and Professional Development in BME

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Guruprasad Madhavan, State University of New York-Binghamton; Aimee Betker, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Jennifer Flexman, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; Barbara Oakley, Oakland University

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

between technological progress on the one hand, and existinglimitations in educational and socioeconomic resources on the other, a varied number ofvisionary frameworks and strategic plans have been put forth by commissions of theAccreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET)1, the National Academy ofEngineering (NAE)2, and the National Science Foundation (NSF)3. A strong, consistentrecommendation in these reports is the need for engineering graduates to have professionaldevelopment, or “soft” skills. The visions of these reports have particular relevance tobioengineering, a discipline whose explosive international growth is generating abundant careerdevelopment, professional development, and humanitarian development opportunities