Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship must obviously be part of any engineering educational program. These three items are pillars of the engineering identity. However, we argue that they are more than just pillars, they also present the perfect context for excellent engineering education. Creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship offer a perfect pedagogical framework and an authentic envelope to teach all aspects of engineering with a holistic systems approach.

It follows the philosophy: “You do not have to be an engineer to become one – but to become an engineer, you have to be like one.”

Engineering programmes and courses where students work with real life challenges create a strong environment for learning. Students acquire the core disciplinary knowledge through heavy scientific and technical subjects as well as methods of synthesis. This knowledge is integrated with the learning of personal, interpersonal, professional and innovative skills. Students face problem solving, critical thinking, team work, management, collaboration and communication skills.

This is why creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship are not just parts of engineering education – they are the powerful means to engineering education excellence in itself.

We will be exploring this theme through keynote sessions and our conference tracks.

At SEFI we are very much aware of the responsibility of engineering education in connection with the global challenges that are facing the world. Thus, we recognize the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and support the UN Sustainability Development Goals. SEFI sees creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for engineering education excellence as part of the right strategy to cross the finishing line in just 12 years from now.

The SEFI and Technical University of Denmark (DTU) invite everyone to join the SEFI Annual Conference in wonderful Copenhagen. The conference takes place at the DTU Campus in Lyngby just north of Copenhagen. We have mowed the lawn, fed the gold fish and there is a spot in the sun for everybody.Looking forward to spending some valuable time together with you in September!
Yours sincerely,