Career Exploration: Engineering for the 21st Century

A career as an engineer requires complex critical thinking and problem-solving skills to conceive, design, and develop effective products and systems. Through this investigative exploration of engineering, students will learn the fundamentals of the career involving design and product creation through stimulating action-based, collaborative challenges to support deep learning and skills development. Utilizing the city as the classroom, this program will feature off-site field visits to engineering landmarks and guest speaker panels with leading industry professionals. Through a final capstone project, students will put into practice key 21st century skills to be successful in their future careers as engineers.

Who should take this course?

This course is suitable for scientifically-oriented students who want to understand the mechanics behind how things work. Students curious about a career in engineering will practice the craft of an engineer and leave the course knowing if this path is right for them.

Program Highlights

• Collaborate in teams to identify engineering solutions to real-world problems.
• Individualized coaching for students to explore their creativity with support from professional engineers.
• Learn every step of the engineering design process, from concept to creation to production.

Students will learn about the different sub-disciplines of engineering through hands-on design challenges. They will complete a capstone project requiring them to work through the research process and put the scientific tools they learn into practice. Simulation activities will include conceiving of, designing, testing, and constructing engineering models from start to finish.

Experienced guest speakers will attend in-class career panels to provide students with insights into multiple paths to reach a career in engineering and learn how to hone the flexibility and determination required to succeed in this profession: 

• Pick the brains of current engineering students, post-baccalaureate, or graduate students 
• Learn about the road to a career in engineering from established professionals from various sub-disciplines in the industry.

These panels are designed to give students exposure to different directions they can take on their educational and professional path as an engineer. They'll learn about the college experience, talk to early-level career professionals, and be inspired by successful innovation leaders in the field.  

The greatest historical engineering feats came from innovative leaders who were not afraid to put the scientific process into practice to explore new solutions to complex problems. As students set off into a 21st century world that will present new problems and challenges, they will be called upon to harness their leadership potential like never before.  

Through problem-based, hands-on learning, students will develop leadership skills such as: 

• Collaboration 
• Communication & Group Dynamics 
• Critical Thinking and Creativity 
• Initiative and Self Direction 
• Social and Cross-Cultural Awareness 

And much more!  

Our Career Accelerators are taught by world-class instructors. Check-out our Engineering for the 21st Century instructor at UC Berkeley!

Dr. Shannon Namboodri earned her BS in Ceramic Engineering from Clemson University and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Virginia Tech University, where she was a National Science Foundation Fellow. After completing her PhD, she worked for Michelin North America in a variety of roles from production to quality control and environmental compliance to research. After taking some time to raise three daughters, she returned to work for a start-up, Cellular Materials International, working to develop and commercialize high-performance Periodic Cellular Materials for blast and ballistic resistance applications. In 2014, she became an instructor of engineering at Wake Tech Community College and then Associate Department Head in 2016. She started teaching at the NC School of Science and Math in 2019. She enjoys inspiring others to enter and persist in the STEM fields. 

Dr. Dugnani graduated from Stanford University’s Aerospace Engineering Ph.D. program in 2004 and is currently a faculty member in the Mechanical Engineering department at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Dr. Dugnani has served as a Foreign Expert, Associate Researcher, and Associate Professor at the University of Michigan – Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute and conducted research in the fields of solid mechanics and fracture mechanics. Prior to moving to Shanghai, Dr. Dugnani was a Senior Managing Engineer at Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, a leading international scientific and engineering consulting firm located in the heart of Silicon Valley. 

His favorite quote: “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice” Steve Jobs - Stanford University commencement speech, 2005

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