Supporting sustainability in engineering education

With the ever-increasing pressures the planet is facing from the effects of climate change, sustainability is more important than ever – and not just as a word, but as an action. In engineering education, sustainability is getting more and more attention. Engineers are needed to develop long-term solutions to the problems posed by the global environmental crisis. This reliance on engineering solutions means that sustainability must be embedded into engineering curricula across the world to promote sustainable products.

For Siemens, sustainability isn’t just a buzzword, it’s at the center of our mission and strategy. Siemens has partnered with Petrus to create the Siemens Skills for Sustainability Network to address the need for sustainability resources in engineering education. During 2022 and 2023, activities supporting sustainability and their outcomes were organized and developed as part of the Siemens Skills for Sustainability Network. Read on to learn more about the Siemens Skills for Sustainability Network and some other great sustainability-focused resources.

About the Siemens Skills for Sustainability Network

The Siemens Skills for Sustainability Network aims to foster the exchange of ideas, opportunities and good practice between academia and industry on a global scale, exploring how to effectively embed the skills that engineers need to address sustainability into engineering curricula. The Network currently hosts a valuable community of over 300 members, representing 170 institutions in 40 countries around the world. For more information, check out this blog.

Skills for Sustainability Network – Activities to date

• In person events: SEFI
• 2023 Skills for Sustainability Network online gathering
• Skills for Sustainability Network – Roundtables: Roundtable discussions at SEFI in 2022 exploring the role of faculty, students, and industry in creating a sustainable and circular mindset.

The Student Voice survey and other recent developments

The Student Voice – Report for the ‘Skills for Sustainability’ survey gave students a voice in how sustainability should be addressed globally in engineering education. The report analyzed 667 submissions. Access the report here.

Learn more about the findings of the survey and the impact of student voices at the 2022 GEDC Industry Forum here. 

In July 2023, the first global online gathering for the Siemens Skills for Sustainability Network took place. Learn more about the gathering, and the new insights gained from this event here.

Get involved

• Register for the Siemens Skills for Sustainability Network here.
• Skills for Sustainability Network Member badge information.
• Starting in 2024, download the EPC Sustainability Toolkit, which is being developed together with the UK’s Engineering Professors Council and the Royal Academy of Engineering. The aim of the toolkit is to provide an essential global resource for engineering educators to ensure graduates are fully equipped to take on sustainability challenges.

Resources

• July 2022 Roundtable Resources & Sketches – adapting engineering education to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• July 2022 Roundtable Article – an overview of the discussions from the first series of Siemens Skills for Sustainability online Roundtables. 
• Sustainability case studies based on existing Siemens materials.
  • Reducing the carbon footprint of supermarkets using innovative simulation from Simcenter STAR-CCM+. (YouTube) 
  • 17-year-old engineering student from Alabama, USA uses Siemens PLM software to create a prosthetic foot for a wounded veteran. (YouTube) 
  • The University of Birmingham partnered with Siemens to move toward a net-zero campus and redefine the future of universities. (Podcast) 
  • An overview of the manufacturing and production of electric vehicles. (White paper) 
• The Student Voice survey report. (Access)

For more insight into bridging the gap between education and industry, empowering students and educators, and Siemens’ involvement in engineering, check out the Academic and Startups blog and the Innovation in the Classroom podcast.