INTRODUCING GLOBAL STEWARDSHIP TO ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD: THE PETROLEUM INSTITUTE'S STEPS PROGRAM FOCUSES ON SUSTAINABILITY

摘要

The STEPS Program (Strategies for Engineering Problem Solving) at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi introduces second-year student design teams to authentic engineering problem solving in the 21st century, with special emphasis on environmental and humanitarian issues facing engineers in both our local and broader global communities. The responsibilities of professional global engineers is stressed, including stewardship of our planet and its resources; the health, safety, and welfare of its inhabitants; engineering ethics, and intercultural communication. Student teams are mentored through an "experience" of engineering design methodology that incorporates creativity and inventiveness, technical thinking, decision-making, communications skills, and graphical demonstration. The authors wanted to know what our Arab engineering students knew about sustainability. What were their perceptions about their responsibilities as engineers in the 21st century? Did they care? What's being done to foster awareness in this part of the world? Should environmental sustainability and global stewardship be at the core of our engineering design program? How could we introduce our students to humanitarian engineering? The answers to these questions along with data collected over two semesters are discussed in this paper. The Fall 2006 STEPS II project involved the development of a Plastics Recycling Plan for the Petroleum Institute, with applications locally and globally. The project exposed students to the concept of reusable energy resources, the societal impact of recycling, environmental issues in engineering design, data collection and analysis, manufacturing processes, safety, modeling techniques, graphics communication as well as economic considerations. At the beginning of the course our students were uneducated about the seriousness of the plastics waste problem, relatively unaware of what was happening at the PI and in their community with regard to recycling, and doubtful that their personal efforts could produce an innovative and effective solution to a serious global dilemma. They had limited vision with regard to researching the topic, and were perplexed by the open-ended nature of the project. Throughout the semester the students gained confidence in their abilities as global citizens and engineers to help solve global problems facing their generation and future generations. They gradually learned how to think "outside the box" about possible solutions, and were excited about the possibility of real implementation of their ideas in the real world. The students "footwork" and visibility on campus and in the community at large was an important first step in building public awareness. Details of the experience the students went through in this project and their interactions with the community and the PI administration are discussed in this article.