Board 129: Preparing Engineering Students for Designing and Managing the Future of Work and Work Systems

Priyadarshini Pennathur; Arunkumar Pennathur; Amirmasoud Momenipour

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: June 26, 2024
Conference Session: Industrial Engineering Division (IND) Poster Session
Tagged Division: Industrial Engineering Division (IND)
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--46686
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46686
Download Count: 291

Paper Authors

biography

Priyadarshini Pennathur University of Texas at El Paso

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Dr. Priyadarshini R. Pennathur is an associate professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

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biography

Arunkumar Pennathur The University of Texas at El Paso

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Dr. Arunkumar Pennathur is Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Pennathur is a Co-Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Industrial Engineering, and the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Applications and Practices in Engineering Education. Dr. Pennathur’s research interests are in human factors engineering and engineering education. In particular, he has conducted research on functional limitations in activities of daily living in older adults. The National Institutes of Health, and the Paso del Norte Health Foundation have funded his research on older adults. The US Army Research Laboratory has funded Dr. Pennathur’s research on workload assessment. Dr. Pennathur has also been recently awarded two grants from the National Science Foundation in Engineering Education. In one of the grants, he is modeling how engineering faculty plan for their instruction. In a second grant, he is developing a model for institutional transformation in engineering which balances access and excellence. Dr. Pennathur is the author/co-author of over 100 publications in industrial engineering and human factors engineering. He is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, among other journals.

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Amirmasoud Momenipour Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

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Amir Momenipour is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Management at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with interests and expertise in teaching human factors, user experience, and work analysis and design. Dr. Momenipour is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), and Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

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Abstract

To design future work and work systems, and to succeed as workers in future work systems, the next generation of engineering professionals require not only the engineering fundamentals we teach today, but must also acquire a deeper awareness about, and a critical appreciation and understanding of how future work and work systems will look and function for workers, what knowledge and skills workers of the future will need when working in new age AI-driven work systems, and how organizations can achieve differentiation and competitive advantage through innovation and entrepreneurship. Research suggests that critical thinking and argumentation skills, convergent multidisciplinary problem solving skills, individual and team creativity, knowledge of innovation processes, practices, tools and metrics, entrepreneurship practices, and an entrepreneurial mindset may be important to cultivate both among future engineering professionals, and in organizations vying for global competitive success in the new future work landscape. While mainstream engineering curricula are beginning to include technical literacy and proficiency in topics such as AI, data mining, and even prompt engineering at undergraduate and graduate levels, a majority of the new age engineering workforce and leadership skills, and the pedagogical principles and practices for teaching these new age skills remain unintegrated in the engineering curriculum. In this paper, we discuss our efforts to better prepare undergraduate and graduate engineering students for the future of work through dedicated courses in the future of work, industrial innovation sciences, future work leadership and work systems management, and entrepreneurship using innovative pedagogical practices such as debates, pitch presentations, innovation tournaments, cultivating curiosity and value creation mindset, risk management discussions, decision making practices, and business strategic planning. We discuss strategies for incorporating the appropriate blend of pedagogical practices into engineering courses to make learning and preparing for the future of work a fun, enjoyable and effective engineering educational pursuit.

Citation
Format

Pennathur, P., & Pennathur, A., & Momenipour, A. (2024, June), Board 129: Preparing Engineering Students for Designing and Managing the Future of Work and Work Systems Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--46686

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - To design future work and work systems, and to succeed as workers in future work systems, the next generation of engineering professionals require not only the engineering fundamentals we teach today, but must also acquire a deeper awareness about, and a critical appreciation and understanding of how future work and work systems will look and function for workers, what knowledge and skills workers of the future will need when working in new age AI-driven work systems, and how organizations can achieve differentiation and competitive advantage through innovation and entrepreneurship. Research suggests that critical thinking and argumentation skills, convergent multidisciplinary problem solving skills, individual and team creativity, knowledge of innovation processes, practices, tools and metrics, entrepreneurship practices, and an entrepreneurial mindset may be important to cultivate both among future engineering professionals, and in organizations vying for global competitive success in the new future work landscape. While mainstream engineering curricula are beginning to include technical literacy and proficiency in topics such as AI, data mining, and even prompt engineering at undergraduate and graduate levels, a majority of the new age engineering workforce and leadership skills, and the pedagogical principles and practices for teaching these new age skills remain unintegrated in the engineering curriculum. In this paper, we discuss our efforts to better prepare undergraduate and graduate engineering students for the future of work through dedicated courses in the future of work, industrial innovation sciences, future work leadership and work systems management, and entrepreneurship using innovative pedagogical practices such as debates, pitch presentations, innovation tournaments, cultivating curiosity and value creation mindset, risk management discussions, decision making practices, and business strategic planning. We discuss strategies for incorporating the appropriate blend of pedagogical practices into engineering courses to make learning and preparing for the future of work a fun, enjoyable and effective engineering educational pursuit.
AU  - Priyadarshini Pennathur
AU  - Arunkumar Pennathur
AU  - Amirmasoud Momenipour
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 129: Preparing Engineering Students for Designing and Managing the Future of Work and Work Systems
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/46686
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--46686
ER  -